Even though there are children with smart phones older than Statesboro High School’s Volleyball program, the team is ready to make the next step under inaugural head coach Bob Massee.
    Massee went from being a Georgia Southern assistant to having the task of building a program from the ground up at Statesboro High School. While it’s been a very long road just to get to the point he is now, even Massee is stunned to see how far things have come.
    “We have come leaps and bounds from where we were,” Massee said. “In the beginning we were just trying to pass the ball, set it and hit it. Now we’re to the point where we can strategize, run offensive and defensive sets.”
    Even though the Blue Devil’s lost eight seniors over the past two seasons, the program will have something it’s never had before – a pipeline. Local middle school girls now participate in Statesboro’s summer camps and play on their own, giving them a foundation to the game and making Massee’s job easier when they get to high school.
    Now that all of his girls have the solid, fundamental foundation needed to play high-level high school volleyball, Massee can work on the advanced techniques and strategies of the game. It’s one of the pieces to taking the Statesboro volleyball program to the next level.
    “That’s the thing that makes it more fun. We can run totally new schemes now because the girls already have the fundamental framework to learn advanced techniques,” Massee said. “We’re not working on simple stuff. That’s the new mentality.”
    Players have noticed the change from year one to now. They’ve fed into Massee’s message of optimism and enthusiasm, making the game exciting for every girl who participates in practice or summer camp. It makes a big difference for the girls to believe in themselves.
    “It’s really motivating to have Coach Massee out here,” said junior setter Katie Stewart. “He just wants us to love the sport as much as he does.”
    When fans come to games or watch a practice, the atmosphere in the gym is a reflection of Massee’s personality: upbeat, energetic and fast-paced. It’s the kind of energy needed to start a program and take it to where it is now. All that’s left are the small details that will allow the Blue Devils to compete with the South Effingham’s of Georgia, and be a legitimate state competitor.
    Massee emphasized the defense is where the team will thrive in 2016, taking pride in their ability to get up and block returns and dig up any potential kills. With a solid defensive foundation laid out, it opens up from for the team to focus on their outside hitting and ability to score.
    “I don’t know what kind of side-out team we’ll be, but we can play defense,” Massee said. “We’ll block and dig with the best of them.”
    Upperclassmen will be sprinkled throughout Statesboro’s starting lineup, but the majority of the playing time will be had by sophomores and some freshman – making Statesboro a fairly young team. But what’s different in past seasons is the younger girls aren’t coming into a high school season blind. The youth already has a foundation, giving optimism for the best season the team has had in its young existence.
    The region will run through South Effingham, who finished last season ranked No. 5 in class AAAAA. As for the rest of region three – the last state playoff spot is up for grabs. Statesboro will be competing with
    Ware County and New Hempstead for the No. 2 spot, while Wayne County’s team is playing volleyball for the first year in school history.
    When asked if she thought Statesboro could make it in the top two this season, senior middle blocker Cameron Parker simply responded, “Duh.”
    “If we play the way we’ve been practicing and get better, come region tournament time we’ll be ready to take the number two spot,” Massee said.
    The Blue Devil’s kick off region play right away today with games against Wayne County and South Effingham at Statesboro High School, with the first game set to start at 5:00 p.m.