Golden Valley’s Livesay continues family tradition

It wasn’t long after Bryan Livesay began to walk that he started playing with a volleyball. After all, he’s is a Livesay.

His first words were probably bump, set, spike and in that order.

The Livesays have been around the volleyball scene in Merced for over a decade. Bryan’s father, Steve, has been a longtime assistant girls volleyball coach at Golden Valley High with Matt Thissen and now Kelly Leonardo.

Bryan’s older sister, Ashley, played at Golden Valley and now helps coach. Older brother Scott played volleyball at UC Merced and is now the GV boys volleyball coach.

“It’s always been a big thing for us,” Bryan Livesay said. “It started with my dad. Then my sister played. My whole family likes to compete. It’s just something we played outside. I started playing as soon as I could walk. I was probably 3 years old maybe when I started.”

The Golden Valley sophomore has carried on the family tradition, helping lead the Cougars to a Central California Conference championship in the first year of the program. Bryan was named the Conference Offensive Player of the Year.

Bryan Livesay is also the Sun-Star Boys Volleyball Player of the Year.

“It was a fun season,” Bryan said. “It was really exciting to be a part of it. People got to see it’s a sport for guys.”

Livesay finished the season third in the Sac-Joaquin Section in total kills with 340 and sixth in the section with 3.7 kills per set according to MaxPreps. He also led Golden Valley with 319 digs.

“His understanding of the game, growing up around it is an advantage not a lot of the other kids have,” said Merced coach Joel Garcia. “A big part of that is being part of a family with a volleyball tradition in Merced.”

Bryan basically grew up in Cougar Arena. As a little kid he was always running around the gym with either a volleyball or basketball in his hand while his older siblings had games.

Now it’s his turn to take the court.

“Being in this gym, it’s like a second home for me,” he said. “I was always here for my sister’s volleyball games or my brother’s basketball games. We’ve helped coach volleyball and now I’m going here. It’s awesome.”

Bryan got his thrill to compete from his family. Whether it’s playing volleyball at the beach with his family or playing basketball with his friends, he doesn’t like to lose.

It shows on the court. He plays with a passion and isn’t afraid to show his emotion during matches. His team played the same way.

“I’m really competitive. I get into the games, probably too much,” Bryan said. “Our team likes to win. We don’t like to lose and we show it.”

The fact that he has the opportunity to play volleyball in high school isn’t lost on the youngest Livesay either. He know his older brother didn’t get to play until he was in college.

“He’s so mad, he’s extremely jealous,” Bryan said. “He reminds our players that a lot of other players are jealous because they didn’t get to play in high school.”

If his first season is any indication, Bryan is going to make the most of his opportunity. A league championship, which included a perfect 10-0 run through the CCC, is a good start.

This story was originally published June 13, 2017 at 11:59 AM with the headline "Golden Valley’s Livesay continues family tradition."