Last year, Lynn introduced boys volleyball back to its city, and it’s been a popular addition. In year two over at Lynn Tech – like a smash over the net – the numbers keep growing.
Kaitlyn Wechsler is Tech’s girls volleyball coach – girls basketball, too – and agreed to be the boys coach last year to help build the program.
And when building, you never know what to expect early on. This year, however, the Tigers are off to a strong start, winning five of their first nine games.
“We’re having a really good start to the year, especially for a second-year program to be over .500 (5-4) at this point,” Wechsler said. “I’m not going to lie – I didn’t think that’s where we were going to be this year.”
When she heard about the boys program being offered, she admitted to having questions.
“I didn’t know how it was going to go. I never coached a brand new program before. I’ve taken over programs before, but never started one,” Wechsler said. “I didn’t know what our numbers were going to look like, but this year, we have almost double what we had last year.”
One thing she’s been enjoying about this spring is the improvement from last year to this year.
“They are more familiar with the game and just got so much better,” she said.
Most of her players haven’t played before – and some may have signed up just for fun – but what Wechsler is noticing is that the boys are committed.
“They come in and realize how much fun it is,” Wechsler said. “They realize there’s a lot more to this sport and it can be very competitive, too, like other teams.”
However, starting up a new program comes with its challenges.
“The biggest [challenge] I’ve seen so far is that people don’t see volleyball as a boys sport. Even more for them than for me, they have to recognize it’s a sport that boys play just as much as girls. It’s just new to our area,” Wechsler said. “I think it’s just a mindset shift that it is also a boys sport.”
The Tigers also have great balance, something Wechsler compares to her girls team, who finished the fall with a 14-6 record.
“This team kind of reminds me of our girls team from this season. We are very well-rounded,” she said. “Elmer (Duran) is our setter, and he’s our only setter, so he runs the court for us. Our middle, Didlaire (Jacques) really improved from last year. He was a decent middle last year and, this year, he’s really coming into his own.”
In addition to Duran and Jacques, the Tigers are getting contributions from other key players.
“Keury Mena played last year and has gotten a lot better. Anthoni (Diaz) is also a returner who has been playing well,” Wechsler said. “We also have Ederick (Gonzalez) who everyone knows from basketball. We snagged him for his senior year and he’s starting to figure it all out. He’s really coming into his own, too.”
Like most programs, the team wanted to make the state tournament. At first, Wechsler thought it might be wishful thinking, but after the strong start, the Tigers are making it their goal.
“They wanted to make the playoffs and I talked to them about how as a second-year [program], we didn’t know what reality was going to look like and if it would be a realistic goal, but now we talk about it like it really is,” she said. “We are at a point where we could actually make the playoffs and we’re really excited about that opportunity.”
