The 2026 IHSAA boys volleyball postseason is officially here, and while the sport has been fast-tracked to full IHSAA support for two years now, the growth in participation is steady rather than explosive. This week, 136 teams enter the tournament—a modest increase from 133 in the inaugural season under the IHSAA umbrella.

But for local fans in The Goshen News coverage area, there's a double dose of excitement. The number of varsity programs has doubled with the addition of NorthWood, who made the leap from club status to full varsity this season under head coach Carrie O'Keefe.

"The biggest transition is that we have a lot of new kids this year—new to volleyball in general," said O'Keefe, who also serves as an assistant for the girls volleyball team in the fall. "We don't have a lot of games either. We play a lot of people twice and we've only had 12 games this year, so that's been the biggest struggle."

Despite the growing pains, the Panthers (3-9) are ready for their first-ever sectional game this Wednesday. They'll face South Bend St. Joseph in a quarterfinal matchup at Northridge—a team that handed them a 3-0 loss just last week.

Speaking of Northridge, the host Raiders are among the 133 teams returning from last year's inaugural postseason. After falling to Saint Joe in the 2025 tournament, they're hungry for redemption. This year, they're scheduled to face South Bend Washington on Thursday at 5:30 p.m.

With a 13-12 record, Northridge brings a fresh look under first-year head coach Bri Nannet, an Elkhart Memorial graduate and former state runner-up.

"I saw the boys' position open up a couple years ago but I had a newborn son at home so I knew that wasn't going to happen," Nannet explained. "When it opened up again, I just knew that was something that interested me."

Now in its fourth season, the Raiders' boys volleyball program has a new identity. "I came in knowing that the program is growing and I really just wanted to focus on creating a culture that I don't think they had before," Nannet said. "I just focused really hard on building relationships with the kids and helping them build relationships with each other and some trust with them on the court."

The results speak for themselves. Northridge has won 41 of their 74 sets this season and boasts a 6-2 record at Jayco Arena. Against the rest of the sectional field, they're an impressive 7-3, with two wins over both NorthWood and South Bend St. Joseph and a split against Penn. Their unavenged losses came against Elkhart (3-2) and Warsaw (3-0).

If the Raiders hope to compete for the sectional title on their home court Saturday afternoon, their team depth might be the key. With a balanced roster and a new culture of trust, Northridge is poised to make some noise in this year's postseason.