Lafayette Jeff, Harrison and McCutcheon relish in IHSAA addition of boys volleyball

LAFAYETTE — Lafayette Jeff boys volleyball coach Gayle Gripe couldn't wait to share the news with her son J.T. over the phone and deliver what the Indiana Boys Volleyball Coaches Association had been chasing for 30 years.

After all, it was J.T. that inspired Gripe to take up the mantle and become one of the lead coaches and ambassadors for boys volleyball in the state.

"I think the moment hit for me when he came up to me," Gripe said. "He told me mom, I like playing with the girls but I was wondering if maybe there was a boys team I could play for as well."

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J.T. Gripe was in the first grade and was constantly practicing with his older sister by four years Mandy.

The dreams of having boys volleyball become accepted by the leading amateur sports body in Indiana came true when the IHSAA announced the sport would be recognized along with girls wrestling for the 2023-2024 season.

"It's been a long time coming," Gripe said who has coached the boys volleyball program at Lafayette Jeff since its inception in 1994. "I'm proud given all the ups and downs we've gone through. Going through COVID and the sport had little interest to seeing the actual growth around the state has been amazing."

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Interest in boys high school volleyball has skyrocketed in 2019. Just 37 teams existed in 2019 and has since expanded to 127 teams.

"It's taken off because we are behind," Harrison volleyball coach Kristie Hostetler said. "These are athletes who weren't playing sports in the spring. So we are not just talking about random people coming in, these are athletes coming in who didn't have a spring sport. So now they have a spring sport to play in and bringing that athleticism to the game."

The IHSAA's addition of boys volleyball speaks as much to the history upheld by Gripe as it does around the growing interest that's being sparked across both Indiana and nationwide.

Participation in boys volleyball increased by over 10,000 athletes in the 2022-2023 season according to the NFHS.

Indiana Fort Wayne and Ball State are two Division I programs while locally Wabash College added its boys volleyball program in 2021. Wabash College holds a record of 15-11 in 2024 and is led by former Lafayette Jeff player Ashaun Baker.

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Part of the coaching tree with Baker is current Central Catholic girls volleyball coach Brad McCarter, another Lafayette Jeff alum who is the Boys Director at Boiler Juniors Volleyball Club.

"Ball State, Indiana Fort Wayne and Wabash College has really helped push the surge," McCarter said. "The exposure has really grown just like in the girls game with games being shown on national TV. It's really pushed the interest."

Lafayette Jeff junior opposite Kevin Braxton was introduced to the sport while attending Tecumseh Middle School. Now he is one of the Bronchos' kills leaders.

"It's given me more opportunities to strive towards something," Braxton said.

The roads towards boys volleyball becoming an IHSAA certified sport circle back to Gripe. She still remembers seeing the disappointment in her once little boy's face when she didn't have a place for him to play at first.

J.T. Gripe went on to become an All-American volleyball player and helped Lafayette Jeff win one of its three state titles.

"The growth is exciting in Indiana," Gail Gripe said who continues to lead Lafayette Jeff. "And it's only going to get better."

Ethan Hanson is the sports reporter for the Journal & Courier in Lafayette. He can be reached at ehanson@gannett.com, on Twitter at EthanAHansonand Instagram at ethan_a_hanson.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: IHSAA adds boys volleyball and girls wrestling