The Medea Creek Middle School volleyball season has started up, and the team is looking better than ever. Sporting a mix of high-power players, finesse players, and genius setters, the team is set to go undefeated. Jerry Chang is one of the team’s top players, as stated by his peers. Chang has a hard serve and light set, a perfect combination for success.

Hi Jerry, can you tell us a bit more about yourself and your volleyball journey?

“Of course! My name is Jerry Chang and I’m an 8th grader. I’ve been playing volleyball for around 2 and a half years at this point, and I play for the club SMBC 14 Molten. I’ve also played beach volleyball and I enjoy the sport overall.”

What position do you play?

“I play left outside hitter, and for those who don’t know what that means, I hit from the left front of the court.”

What are your main skills?

“I’d call myself a pretty well-rounded player. I specialize in my setting and spiking. I also serve pretty well, with a lot of power.”

Let’s talk about the team. How do you think the season will go?

“I think our team is really good. Everybody on the team plays well, and everybody wants to win. I think we have the potential to go 3 and 0. The only problem is our main setter will be out for the first game, but we should be fine! I think that this won’t be as competitive as club volleyball.” 

Speaking of club volleyball, how competitive is it?

“It gets intense. There are brackets, and the highest is gold. The brackets also have ranks within them. I’m in silver one, so it has some top-level talent. The main difference is that everyone is playing organized. At this stage, nobody is a newbie and everybody knows their own roles. It is pretty hard to adjust to teams that play organized and well.”

Wow, that sounds tough! How are you planning to take these things into high school?

“In high school, I want to play both beach and indoor volleyball. I think that the same things apply. It will be even more competitive than a club.”

What’s different between beach and indoor volleyball besides the fact that it is on a beach?

“I think that the beach plays a huge part in it. You are tired, it is hot, and movement is restricted. Besides that, the sport is played with a partner, not a whole squad. It is a lot of fun though.”

That does sound fun. Let’s go back indoors. Do you have any advice for people aspiring to play volleyball in the future?

“Learn the two main things first: passing and serving. Passing is pretty self-explanatory, just work on setting it up for teammates. Serving is more complicated. I learned through a four-step approach that involves the first two steps being about the run-up and the last two about the hit. I’m sure that tutorial can be found online. Other than that, learn to develop chemistry with teammates. You have to be able to work with your team because volleyball needs the whole team to succeed.”

Awesome! I have a question that I’ve always wanted answered. Do volleyball players wear basketball shoes?

“Many players do actually! I think that the new Lebron 21s are getting popular because they have a lot of cushion and help you jump higher. Many people also wear regular shoes with special insoles. I personally just wear volleyball shoes.”

Any final thoughts?

“I’m excited to go out there and win all of our games. Me and my teammates are going to do so well!”

Thanks for your time, Jerry!

Chang is optimistic about the season, and we all should be as well. The team is stacked and everybody is ready to play!