It’s March 27 of Aarush Shukla’s 12th-grade year at Eden Prairie High School (EPHS), and though college decisions are rolling in, he’s got his mind on tomorrow’s game. While he’s played since the beginning of ninth grade, tomorrow will be the first time Aarush plays varsity volleyball — actually, it’ll be the first time that any boys at EPHS play varsity volleyball. Since the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) voted to sanction the game in 2023, permitting boys volleyball to be played as a varsity sport beginning in the 2024-25 school year, students on the EPHS boys volleyball team have been looking forward to this day with excitement, pride and gratitude.
The spring 2025 varsity and JV squads are full of energy as they move about the EPHS Main Gym on this Thursday evening, warming up and running through drills. “I like to meditate before games, and that really locks me in,” Aarush says before running back to his teammates to join a huddle. They’re chatting with head coach Steph Chapek about their Spring Break plans before they rush off to another drill. “How you play tomorrow is how you do today,” she tells her players. It’s a strong reminder to stay focused at this final practice before their varsity debut, but this is what they’ve come to expect from Coach Steph. Many of the 10 seniors on the varsity team have been playing with her for a long time.
Building a varsity sport
Chapek came to EPHS in 2019 when the boys volleyball program began. Back then, however, it was only considered a club sport. “I never saw boys playing,” she said of her time growing up with the game. Chapek played volleyball at the University of Minnesota from 1998-2001, and after a time playing internationally and on various tours, she came back to Minnesota to coach at Edina High School. When she moved to EPHS a number of years later, she wanted to start a boys team — and she did. But not having varsity status meant they had to pay for gym time, and they couldn’t take advantage of school bussing to games. That’s all different now thanks to the MSHSL varsity sanction.
“We’re really excited, and the school support has been really good,” Chapek says. There’s a feeling that Eden Prairie School staff, too, are excited for the team.
“I wish there was a boys program when we were in high school,” says the boys’ assistant coach Mo Reiling, who graduated from EPHS in 2019 and played girls varsity volleyball. Shae Nelson, the other assistant coach, agrees. She graduated a year before Reiling and played with her on the varsity team. There is something special about the opportunity to play a varsity sport, Nelson says. For many of the students on the newly recognized boys varsity team, they wouldn’t have played a sport, let alone a varsity sport, if it weren’t for volleyball. 12th grader Deion Lange has a heart condition, and can’t play contact sports. His teammate, 12th grader Sathvik Voora, came to volleyball when he decided football wasn’t his game. “We have real jerseys [now], we’re treated as a real sport,” Sathvik says. “It shows how much volleyball has grown.”
“It’s teamwork, it’s social,” says Chapek. “I want them to look back and think, ‘This was a special time for me. I had fun, and I grew with my friends.’”
This attitude comes to life in Chapek’s coaching. For her, setting goals with the boys for volleyball is important, but building life skills is just as significant. She tries to remind her players to be present in the moment, whether in a game or during practice. Tomorrow’s game, she says, will just be “one play at a time.” Still, her calmness doesn’t mean she isn’t excited. “We’re just jumping right into it.”
“It’s just another game”
It’s a windy and cool Friday night when the boys varsity team rolls up to Jefferson High School in Bloomington. Tonight, they’re breaking in their new jerseys, a bright tribute to Eden Prairie colors: black that slowly shifts into red halfway down the shirt, with sharp white numbers and a bold “Eagles” written on the front. The students were overjoyed to receive them. Now, it’s time to put them to use.
Coming off the energy of the JV team’s win earlier that evening, the Eagles varsity players enter the brightly lit Jefferson gym to open their season. It’s a special moment for 12th grader Daniel Jiang. “I’m really happy. I’m really proud we got this far,” he says. He’s playing tonight with his predecessors in mind: all the students who witnessed the MSHSL vote, but graduated before it took effect; all the students who came before who “paved the way for this program.” But he’s also looking ahead. “We get to make all the traditions,” he says of this year’s varsity squad. It’s exciting. The announcer calls out the starting rosters. It’s Daniel’s “last first game.”
The first serve comes through hard. It’s a point for Jefferson. EPHS looks a little nervous. This game has its own particular outside pressure: the Eagles are ranked first in the pre-season coaches poll. Points come one after the other, and there’s a widening gap in the scores, with the Jefferson Jaguars on top. This set plays to 25 points, and the winner must be ahead by at least two. Whoever wins 3 out of 5 sets will take the match.
As the points rack up, the Eagles start to close in. Then, to an explosive celebration from players and visiting spectators, EPHS takes its first lead of the set, 19-18. It’s exciting, but short-lived, with the Jaguars scoring a point right back. The set remains close.
The EPHS players are talking to each other constantly, calling out who has the ball and cheering each other on. When they score a point, they come together to give high fives. When Jefferson scores a point, the Eagles still come together, and they still high five. It shows their commitment to one another. “They’re so bought into our program, and each other,” Chapek said at last night’s practice. It’s clear, tonight, that’s the case.
Win by two, that’s the goal. Now, it’s 25-25. Both teams are here to compete. And then, somehow, it’s 27-25, Eagles. The EPHS Boys Varsity Volleyball team has won their first set.
The energy is high; the Eagles are in it. The second set is theirs by eight points. The Eagles players on the bench do the wave to cheer their team on. And soon, EPHS has won their third straight set — and their first game as a varsity team. They jump, shout, hug, smile.
The Eagles celebration is only cut short by their run to congratulate the opposing players on a good game. Then they’re back to a huddle with Coach Steph. She smiles and tells them it’s a “good start.”
It is a good start. It’s program history.
That history continues on Wednesday, April 9 at Eden Prairie High School for their home opener against Shakopee. Is the team feeling the pressure after such a strong start? For 12th grader Sathvik, the Jefferson match was “just another game” — their performance in Bloomington suggests the match against Shakopee will be just another game, too.
- Eden Prairie High School
