"The good thing about Taylor is that he's an athlete," Larsen said. "He knows how his body works and that makes him pretty easy to teach."

He said teaching older boys the basics of volleyball can be frustrating, but with Taylor "it's been pretty fun. It can be rough with some kids."

Mattson said his football coach was happy to have him playing volleyball.

"He really encourages us to play other sports," he said. "He said it makes us better athletes."

Mattson's parents were surprised when their football-loving son said he was going to take up volleyball last winter.

"I was really surprised," said his father, Tim. "He has zero experienced. I don't think he'd ever even touched a ball."

Both his parents understand the game a little and while his father said he's not sure it beats a football game for excitement, it's a very enjoyable game to watch.

"It's entertaining," he said. "It's a lot different from football. In football, you wait all week for that one game. This is fun. I'd like to see it in high schools. I really like it."

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E-mail: adonaldson@desnews.com