This spring, Pahrump Valley High School Athletics welcomed a new sport for our boys to enjoy. Men’s volleyball, which originated as a club three years ago, is now an official sport here at PVHS. PVHS boys volleyball is coached by Pahrump Valley High School Science teacher Amber Lugo with Assistant Coach Andi Bishop. Together, they are determined to help strengthen and improve our volleyball athletes.

But what is Men’s volleyball? “Men’s Volleyball is a sport that has been around much longer than what people think, even though it hasn’t been in a high school as long as women’s volleyball. It is almost the exact same game as women’s volleyball; the only difference being that the net is about 7 inches taller than a women’s volleyball net,” Shared Coach Lugo. 

Men’s volleyball has grown in the past years, now becoming a very big sport like football or soccer. “The NCAA last year had about four scholarships for a men’s program and now they have a full 12 scholarships available for men’s programs,” Coach Lugo also shared.

Men’s volleyball also has a major impact on our athletes as well. They master some of the hardest skills and always try to mentally recover after a tough loss. “One skill I honestly mastered is server speed and that just a lot of trying over and over again,” shared Emery Miller-Rocha, a junior on the men’s volleyball team. Carlos Lindelkugel, another junior on the team shared, “One skill I mastered is spiking the ball.

I am still learning to master it right now and I know I’m going to master it. After tough losses, whether it’s taking a bath or shower after the game and reflecting on what they did wrong, rewatching the game on NFHS and seeing what they messed up on or taking a long drive home and reflecting in their head on what they could’ve done better. Many players have different ways to reflect on the losses of the game.  In every coach’s eyes, they don’t care if you say, “I will fix it next time,” they want you to show them that you fixed it and not let it happen again.

But, with a rocky start to the season with a 6-1 loose streak, our men’s volleyball team remains 4th in the 3A South – Desert League, according to maxpreps.com, just behind Doral Academy Red Rock. Our boys can turn it around, though, and possibly win the state championship for their first year of being an official team with NIAA.

Even though it is the first year of men’s volleyball being at PVHS, Coach Lugo hopes that she can grow the program and hopes to inspire a lot more young male Pahrump athletes to come and try out for boys volleyball in the coming years. If you have any questions for boys volleyball or how to join next year email Coach Lugo at [email protected] or Assistant Coach [email protected].