In a spacious gymnasium, a 16-year-old boy held his left arm in front of him with a volleyball in hand. He took in the sights and sounds of the arena. The stands were packed and roaring, fit for a youth league national championship game.
The stadium was lukewarm, a reprieve from the unforgiving summer heat of the Las Vegas air. But the boy wasn’t focused on any of that. He was focused on winning the match in front of him.
In the stands sat USC men’s volleyball head coach Jeff Nygaard. He had heard reports there was a talented setter named Caleb Blanchette from Tennessee. It was the only time the coach scouted him that year.
And it was the only time that was necessary.
“For Coach Nygaard to fly out from Florida to Las Vegas to see me play one game, it meant the world to me,” Blanchette said.
Sports had always been a part of Blanchette’s life. His mother, Colleen Blanchette, played high school volleyball, while his father, Scott Blanchette, played college basketball. They encouraged Blanchette and his brother to play a variety of athletics, but one that stuck was volleyball.
“My older brother loved it and so, since he started playing it, I started playing it,” Blanchette said. “I loved the thrill of it, I loved keeping the balloon off the ground.”
However, Tennessee isn’t known for volleyball. Blanchette’s high school didn’t even have a varsity boys’ volleyball team. So, he decided to play for the only club team in the state, 30 miles away from home — C2 Attack Volleyball. Players from seven different states made up the team, and they only practiced once a month.
“It was almost like an All-Star team on the East Coast,” Blanchette said. “We couldn’t practice together; we couldn’t mesh together really well.”
In between tournaments for his club, Blanchette played with girls’ teams and adults to hone his skills. But with college coaches looking to other states for volleyball recruits, Blanchette’s play remained under the radar, until he joined the USA Boys National Team and won the gold medal in the 2022 Boys Pan American Cup in Guatemala.
Later that year, Blanchette won a title with his club in the U.S. U16 National Championship game in Las Vegas. But, he and his family had to devote many hours to get to that point.
“There were summers that we were home six days out of the summer,” Colleen Blanchette said. “We were gone the entire summer because we were traveling for Caleb to be able to play both indoor and beach volleyball.”
The match left quite an impression on Nygaard, who flew from Florida to see Blanchette play. Nygaard saw his elite skills and dedication to the sport and decided to take a chance on him, despite Tennessee not being a volleyball-oriented state.
“I heard one coach say it’s not where you are; it’s who you are,” Nygaard said. “If you’re a really great volleyball player who grew up in a place that doesn’t have volleyball, why ask why that person popped up? Why not just go get him?”
Blanchette originally signed to play for the Trojans in 2025, but by taking community college courses simultaneously with his high school curriculum, he had only one class remaining for his spring semester of senior year. So, he doubled up on English classes in the fall semester and finished high school early.
“I could go to school early and play volleyball with the guys I’m going to play with five days a week,” Blanchette said. “We can train, we can lift, we can mesh together. All that just made it a no-brainer for me.”
Blanchette had to adjust quickly. He joined the team in December, with the first matches less than a month away and against opponents that were stronger, faster and better than anything at the club level.
But Nygaard trusted the freshman enough to put him in for the first game of the season against Fort Valley State. Sharing time with junior setter Josh Friedman, Blanchette recorded 14 assists to help his team to a 3-0 victory.
“When they put him in that first game, I was like, ‘Okay, we’re doing this,’” Colleen Blanchette said. “I’ve watched him play for so many years, and I could tell he was nervous in the beginning.”
In the next game, he started for the Trojans and had 23 assists. One week later, against Lincoln Memorial University, he racked up 48 assists.
“In the first few weeks, it was hard trying to find my voice because I was the little guy who couldn’t really say much, but the other guys on my team lifted me up and pushed me to be a better player,” Blanchette said.
As of publication, Caleb Blanchette is averaging 9.10 assists per set, the 27th-best mark in Division 1, according to the NCAA. And he’s doing it at just 17 years old, making him one of the youngest players in collegiate volleyball.
“It’s been a pleasure seeing his growth from when he came in December to now,” said Dillon Klein, USC’s sophomore outside hitter. “Just seeing him grow as a player and learn the game of collegiate volleyball a little bit more has been amazing.”
Blanchette’s big-game mentality has extended to social media, as the freshman setter hopes to grow the game from coast to coast.
“I use my social media to show what’s like out in California, where volleyball is the place to be,” he said. “I can give someone who wants to play volleyball a glimpse of what it’s like out here to try and grow the game back on the East Coast.”
As for the future, Blanchette is focused on helping build this team from the ground up.
“Maybe this year, we won’t win a national championship, but in the future, it’s definitely possible,” Blanchette said. “All of us will stay together, we’ll grow together and we’ll become one unit. We can go so high.”