BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich. (WXYZ) — It can take a long time to build a title contending program and for the Bloomfield Hills volleyball team, success just hasn’t found them in the past — that is until this season when a perfect storm of events helped kick-start a perfect season.
“I’ve been playing volleyball since I was 12 years old,” senior Kayla Nwabueze said.
“I’ve been playing volleyball, we’re going on year eight,” junior Brynn Wilcox said.
Even before they arrived on campus, Nwabueze and Wilcox crossed paths many times before.
“I first started off at Legacy Volleyball Club,” Nwabueze said.
“I played at Legacy for my first few years,” Wilcox said.
But just because you’ve played the same sport for years doesn’t guarantee immediate chemistry.
“A lot of us have played together for a while, but I think it takes the whole season. We don’t play our best volleyball until the end of our season — that’s the goal,” Wilcox said.
Another goal for this Black Hawks squad: get back to the district finals and advance to the state tournament for the first time.
And they are well on their way to doing so. They’ve started the season an outstanding 12-0 and have only given up a single set along the way.
“We know that it’s obviously the preseason and we haven’t really got to our league games yet. We know that we still have to keep working hard because we can’t get a little ahead of ourselves and we should definitely take every rep seriously and keep working hard at this point,” Nwabueze said.
With a clear focus like that, it certainly makes it easier for first-year head coach Brian Kim to help steer the program in the right direction.
“As soon as I walked into the gym, the team chemistry and the chemistry between the players was already there. The culture is extremely positive, the players are extremely connected. So I’ve had a really easy time transitioning into the team,” Kim said.
Does this start guarantee a state championship appearance? No. But it is helping build the confidence in this young team that they can do it.
“It really shows that our ceiling is through the roof. We have so much potential with this group and everybody doesn’t take it lightly that we could be in the contention to win our district finals and hopefully make a run in the state playoffs,” Wilcox said.
