It was match point for Wabash’s first-ever volleyball team. The ball was right above the head of Luke Wallace ’21, who passed it to Luke Davis ’24, who set it back to Wallace. Wallace wound up for his 20th kill of the five-set match.As the sideline watched, one teammate was jumping up and down with nervous excitement. The rest were holding their breath.
“It’s an amazing opportunity to be part of a new program,” says Justin Abequibel ’24. “We have the chance to instill our own beliefs and ideals into the program and create a culture which is entirely unique. As most of us were freshmen, that can be slightly overwhelming, but the camaraderie and sense of family I’ve experienced from the team has made me feel at home at Wabash.”
The team may have been young, with seven out of the team’s nine members being freshmen, but Bowerman says they are “eager and committed.”
A Crawfordsville native, Bowerman grew up with two volleyball coaches as parents (his mother was an All-American volleyball player from Purdue University) and began his own coaching career when he was 16 years old.
He started by helping his mother coach his sister’s club volleyball team in Indianapolis, and then became a student-assistant coach for his high school’s varsity girls team when he was a junior at North Montgomery.
Bowerman continued to be an assistant coach for North Montgomery throughout his Wabash career, while also coaching club teams in Indianapolis and serving as student president of Wabash’s volleyball club team for four years. After leaving Wabash, Bowerman went on to serve as the assistant coach at Xavier University of Louisiana and Indiana University Kokomo.“I never would have thought that I would be back here coaching Wabash’s first volleyball team, but it’s a great full-circle story,” Bowerman says.
Wabash’s first volleyball team: Justin Abequibel ’24 (Avon, IN); Julian Alvizo ’24 (Chicago, IL); Luke Davis ’24 (Avon, IN); Carson Meadors ’24 (Indianapolis, IN); Carter Nevil ’24 (New Albany, IN); Evan Nichols ’22 (Georgetown, IN); Thang Sathing ’24 (Indianapolis, IN); Ricky Sessions ’24 (Indianapolis, IN); and Luke Wallace ’21 (Tucson, AZ).