How experience is leading Enochs to first place in the CCAL boys volleyball standings
Spencer Barclay believes his team is starting to figure it out at the right time.
The Enochs High boys volleyball team is in its first season, a year that did not begin promisingly. The Eagles started 3-4 with losses to Madera, Golden Valley and Merced high schools.
“We went down and played Merced and Golden Valley,” Barclay said. “Those teams have had it since 2017.”
The coach, entering his seventh year on the sidelines, noticed one major difference between his team and the competition.
“They were playing free,” he said. “They knew where to go. They were not thinking, ‘Well, where am I supposed to be’ and then trying to hit the ball. They’re just going up to hit the ball and going to pass the ball.”
After that slow start, the Enochs team has won 10 of its last 12 games, sweeping five opponents along the way.
Since its recent turnaround, Enochs is 16-8 and sits atop the Central California Athletic League with a perfect 6-0 record entering the final third of the season. The Eagles recently participated in a tournament in Manteca and took second place.
“Now we’re starting to get comfortable,” said Barclay, who also coached the Enochs High girls team. “Now, our guys know where to go and so they’re playing free.”
Ups and downs come with building a program.
For the first time, each Modesto City Schools high school has a boys volleyball team. Davis High debuted its team last year, participating in the Western Athletic Conference. In 2023, Beyer, Enochs, Downey, Gregori, Johansen and Modesto all joined with their own teams.
Enochs’ 16 wins is the most of any MCS high school through the first week of April.
“The biggest thing is that across the board — varsity, JV, our freshman team — they all just come in ready to work every day and get better,” Barclay said. “It’s the eighth week that these guys have touched a volleyball and their growth was outstanding.”
For a first-year program, the Eagles have a great deal of experience throughout all levels. Five players have at least one year of club volleyball experience. One is the team’s kills leader, Matthew Suico, a team captain with four to five years of experience and 197 recorded kills so far this season.
He is a coach on the court, putting players in the right spots and helping relay messages from the sidelines to his teammates.
“I can’t even quantify how much it helps,” Barclay said. “We have guys who are athletic, we have guys who are skilled, but just having those guys out on the court, and that leadership, it just brings everybody together and helps us play as a team instead of just guys trying to play volleyball individually.”
Enochs and Downey have varsity, junior varsity and freshman boys volleyball teams. Barclay says when they passed interest cards last year, students were very receptive. When it came time to schedule tryouts, around 40 boys showed up.
“It made me excited about just the opportunity to build a program,” Barclay said. “It just makes me excited that the freshmen on the freshman team, as they get into it now, in their junior year or their senior year, they’ve been playing for three or four years and they know the game and they’re ready for that opportunity.”
The benefit of having all three levels is that everyone gets game experience.
“They can practice every day but … even in the toughest practice, can’t replicate (a game).” Barclay said.
Barclay is encouraged the program will continue to grow. As more boys on campus continue to see their friends play and attend games, he believes they will quickly learn how fun volleyball is.
“We’ve got a lot of guys interested, and with students coming in and watching the game, they’re getting more and more interested,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll have bigger numbers next year and we’ll have guys that have been in the program now to bring the younger kids up and push them along.”
