Franklin middle blocker is a big force
Given a volleyball was involved, Chris Dibb couldn't help but take notice.
Four years ago at Franklin boys volleyball coach was watching a youth camp the school's basketball program was hosting when one of the tallest kids on the floor was asked to dunk. But the kid, who just completed the eighth grade, couldn't dunk, at least not with a basketball, so he grabbed a volleyball that was nearby, palmed it and threw down a one-handed jam that delighted the other young campers.
That moment turned out to be the first of many times Dibb watched Nicodemus Meyer wow a crowd. Meyer, on the other hand, didn't realize his future coach was there. Playing volleyball wasn't really on his radar, either.
“I played back in sixth and seventh grade on a regional travel team that was boys and girls,” he said. “My sisters played it and they both still play. … But I never played it. I was always playing basketball. As a guy if you're tall that is what everyone focuses you toward.”
Meyer eventually realized there are plenty of tall guys who play volleyball. These days he is one of the biggest and baddest in the state among them.
The middle blocker has emerged as the go-to player on Sabers team that qualified for the last two state tournaments and as a Division I recruit. And at 6 feet 10 inches tall he is one of the most imposing figures playing at the prep level in the state.
Next year he'll take his talents to the Division I Loyola (Chicago).
His story is an example of what can happen when people broadens their horizons.
“My mom pushed for it," Meyer said. "She said ‘Hey, go out your freshman year and if you don't like it after the first year you can be done with it.'”
What Meyer learned during that season is what people who aren't familiar with the sport often find out.
This isn't the laid-back brand of volleyball played with your cousins at the family reunion. It's quick-hitting, intense and full of momentum shifts. It's a game that is difficult to play well without passion.
Meyer enjoyed all of that while building a connection with junior varsity coach Dean Mlachnik that further sparked his interest.
“He's just a great motivator and understands how to make you work hard,” said Meyer, who also gave a shout out to Dibb. “I had him freshman year and loved it. I loved going out there and competing . ... He's still probably my favorite coach. Every time I see him I come up and give him a big hug.”
Meyer was brought up to the varsity for its tournament run as a freshman. Sophomore year he earned a spot on the varsity and settled into a role he still holds.
Sophomore year he was the fourth option on the team and finished with 78 kills and a .246 hitting percentage.
Last season he was the No. 3 option and recorded 267 kills while raising his hitting percentage to .292. He led the Sabers in blocks in each of those seasons, getting 38 total blocks as a sophomore and 70 as a junior.
Each winter his attention shifted to basketball. Last season he averaged 5.1 points, ranked second with 6.1 rebounds and first with 1.6 blocks for a team that tied for third in the Southeast Conference.
And while he stayed busy with the games, his body grew and grew. Meyer went from about 6-5 as a freshman to 6-9 last season. This year he says he is 6-10, 6-11 with shoes.
As often happens in basketball, it took some time for Meyer's volleyball skills to catch up to his body.
“Sophomore year he'd go up to hit it and it was just kind of like a poof. It would be more of a soft hit compared to this year or even at the end of last year,” Dibb said. “He's contacting the ball and hitting it with a lot more velocity (now). Those balls he was hitting as a sophomore ended up being digs. Now they're turning into kills.”
That is part of the reason this season is so promising.
Not only have Meyer's skill jelled, but he is surrounded by a team that with the help of veterans like senior setter Jay Thammavongsa, senior libero Zach Russell and junior middle Ben Kearney has the potential for another deep season, if the season gets that far during the coronavirus pandemic.
“We have a slogan at Franklin just for volleyball: Family is everything,” Meyer said. “It's just that mentality that it's not about a single player.
“We play that way when we played my sophomore year and when we played my junior year. We played as a unit.”