There was a game last year when a player served a ball, and a second before everyone else in the gym knew what was going to happen, Chris Cooper, head boys volleyball coach, let out a “warrior scream.”

James Hoover, assistant boys volleyball coach, said he thought Cooper saw the angle that one of his players served the ball and knew the other team was not going to be able to get to it.

“[Cooper] has an incredible vision of the game,” said Hoover. “He’s so familiar [with the game] that he sees what’s going to happen before it does.”

Cooper started playing volleyball in sixth grade and continued to play throughout college at Ball State University.

At Ball State, Cooper was named a Second Team All-American after his sophomore season and a First Team All-American after both his junior and  senior seasons. Cooper was inducted into the Ball State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2003.

Hoover said Cooper’s experience as a setter in college has made him a “phenomenal coach.”

“[The setter is] a position that people often look to and feed off of,” said Hoover. “I think as players look at him while they’re playing,…they get that sense of calm confidence that he exudes.”

Cooper had a total of 7,281 assists during his college career.

“It’s not something that I go around telling a lot of people, because most people don’t even know what an assist in volleyball is, but it’s a cool thing,” Cooper said.

Junior Jeremy Doman said he thinks Cooper’s experience helps the team.

“He knows what he’s talking about when it comes to setting,” said Doman. “I think the team really does its best to do whatever [Cooper] says because he knows best for sure.”

Cooper said that since he had success as a player, it strengthens the kids’ trust in him.

“If you’ve never played before, sometimes kids think, ‘Well, what the heck does he know about the sport?’” said Cooper. “But, I think the fact [that] I’ve played and that I’ve had some success…buys me a little bit of credibility.”

Hoover said that despite all of Cooper’s accomplishments, he still remains humble.

“[Cooper] has more knowledge than I will ever have about the sport, but he honestly asks our opinions as assistant coaches,” said Hoover. “In games, in-between games, he respects us as professionals and values us as a team of coaches, which he doesn’t have to do. He knows more than all of us, but…as a leader, he listens to our input.”