BE boys’ volleyball team enters second season, faces improved competition

If Bishop England High School boys’ volleyball coach Alec Swanson heard it once, he’s explained it 100 times.

 

What will the Bishops do for an encore after posting a perfect record last fall while winning a state championship?

 

“It’s definitely going to be a tough act to follow,” Swanson said. “We were 12-0 and won the state championship. What more could we have done? That’s tough. It’s a hard act to follow because every team should be better this fall.”

 

The High School League did sanction the sport for the first time in 2022. But the organization didn’t sanction the playoffs or the state championships, which were won by Bishop England in Class AAA and Lucy Beckham in Class AAAA. The Bishops picked up the state crown with a victory over Philip Simmons.

 

This year, everything is sanctioned thanks to the surge in popularity in the Palmetto State. The sport already has mega status in the Midwest and West Coast.

 

Janel Swanson, who served as the faculty representative last fall, first approached the High School League almost a decade ago to sanction the sport. It became a reality last year when about 40 schools fielded teams, including a dozen in Class AAA. The Lowcountry was so well represented that six area teams reached the quarterfinals.

 

But that was then and this is now.

 

The Bishops’ roster has little change other than losing two players to graduation: Joey Gurney and Erik VenJohn.

 

The success remains the same. The Bishops topped Stratford 3-0 in the season-opener and followed that up with another 3-0 decision against Wando on Aug. 24.

 

This year’s team is senior heavy with nine student-athletes from the Class of ’24 on the roster: Aidan Alexander, Preston Cederquist, Thomas Dietrich, Stephen McCartee, Will Mazur, Quinn McDougall, Zach Mullen, Niko Orthner, and Andrew Puckhaber.

 

The competition will be tougher this fall, according to Swanson. He said James Island and Beaufort are new to the sport, and the Upstate has added a healthy number of teams.

 

Still, there is room for improvement, said Sawnson, who had his team pick up pointers and practices from the girls’ team leading into their first season. The girls’ program is one of the most dominant volleyball winning machines in the country.

 

“We have to start at the lower grades to improve the sport,” Swanson said. “We have to have teams at the middle-school level, and get them hooked. By the time they get to high school, they will love the sport.”

 

Swanson’s vocation is as a pilot. He’s a pilot for Breeze Airways and serves as an Air Force Reserve pilot who flies C-17s.

 

Swanson’s avocation is coaching volleyball.

 

“I’m just happy that the boys get a chance to play volleyball,” he said. “We just need to keep on winning.”

 

The regular season schedule has some serious obstacles. The Bishops face Class AAAA champ Lucy Beckham on Aug. 30 and Sept. 13. Wando is on the slate Sept. 7 and Philip Simmons is slated for Sept. 14.