When Mitzi Gargus took over as Choctaw’s boys volleyball coach this season, she inherited a team searching for an identity. Months later, the Indians have found one — and a district semifinal berth to show for it.

• Choctaw has won six of its last nine matches heading into Tuesday’s district home match against North Bay Haven, a sharp turnaround for a program that finished 3-12 a year ago.

“The guys have made a lot of progress,” Gargus said. “Last year, their record was 3-12. So to see the growth in not just being able to beat local teams, but to go outside of our district and beat teams out there has been phenomenal.”

The program’s reach extends well beyond the Choctaw campus. The Indians are the only team in Okaloosa County that sponsors boys volleyball and one of just three programs west of Tallahassee that does, along with Gulf Breeze and North Bay Haven. As a result, the roster pulls from several surrounding schools.

“Probably half the team is from Niceville, Crestview and Fort Walton,” Gargus said.

That mix has created a different kind of team-building challenge — and, Gargus said, an opportunity.

“It’s been a challenge because when you look at school spirit and it being a high school sport, there’s a lot more camaraderie when you’re going to the same school, but the guys have really been amazing in bonding and not letting that affect their growth as players and as teammates,” Gargus said. “But really our goal has been to grow the program. So being able to take in players that are coming from other schools because their schools don’t offer boys volleyball has been amazing to be able to take them in and still provide them with the opportunity to play.”

The on-court production has followed. Joshua Jefferson has recorded more than 100 kills this season, while Dade Aponte and Enrique Boyett have each topped 50.

Choctaw hosts North Bay Haven in the 2A District semi-finals Tuesday night at 7pm. For Gargus, the growth that got the Indians to this point has come from more than just the players on the floor.

“The growth in the players, but in the program itself and the parents willing to help out and putting in their time and effort, and having a coaching staff I can rely on and the guys can rely on has been a huge help in making the program more successful.”