Walton has high hopes for Green Wave

Second-year coach Jaime Walton believes the Green Wave boys volleyball program is poised to take strides forward as it enters the 2009 season with 18 players, up from 11 a year ago.

"I have some raw athletes I'm making into volleyball players," said Walton, who directed the St. Edward girls volleyball program to a fourth-place finish in Class A in 2004 and to third place in Class 2A in 2008. "They're having fun and they're good kids who want to learn. The program's really coming along. We're getting athletes, kids who want to compete and want to play."

The boys program, which has never won a regional title in 10 previous seasons, will get a boost from some basketball players who have decided to give volleyball a try, including 6-foot-4 senior Steve Martin and juniors Kyle Butler and D.J. Byrnes.

Those athletes join the team's core of four returning seniors: middle hitter Jim Waclawik, senior setter Miguel Martinez, senior outside hitter Lucas Belcher, libero Jeff Cholewa and backup setter Luke McCullagh. Adding height to the middle will be 6-5 senior Michael Horner.

Unlike last season when Walton took the reins, a larger roster means more depth, more maneuverability and more confidence.

"We're not lacking at any position right now," said Walton, whose first boys team at St. Edward finished 7-15 and lost to Wheaton Academy in a regional play-in game. "We came very close with a lot of good teams last year on our raw talent. I think this year we're going to win a lot of those matches because the boys are more experienced after all the coaching we did last year.

"I feel really good about it."