By Michael Wojtychiw
For what seemed like years, the Lane Tech boys volleyball program had been a sleeping giant.
Coming into the 2026 season, the Champions had won a regional title in six of the last seven seasons and were looking to go back-to-back in city championship games, as well as get back to the state finals weekend after taking third place last season.
The program did both of those things, taking down Taft for the CPS title for the second consecutive season, earning the program’s first-ever back-to-back city championship. It followed that up by winning its second consecutive sectional title, also a first, guaranteeing it a spot in the state’s final eight.
Unfortunately for the Champions, the dream of bringing home another trophy fell short, as they lost in the state quarterfinals, but that doesn’t overshadow how successful the program has become within the past five years.
“I feel that those achievements have been very impactful,” Lane recent graduate Richard Barwicki said. “Winning city championships back-to-back, as well as the state runs, I think that through all of the adversity we’ve gone through, it’s shown the potential the program has. It lets every junior, every sophomore, every freshman coming into the program, what’s able to be achieved by a CPS program.”
“This moves our program forward,” Lane rising senior William Ports said. “When I was a freshman here, everything was different. It felt like everybody was there just to have fun and it wasn’t really competitive. But the past couple of years, as we’ve had this success, we’ve set the precedent that our school comes to play.
“For us to do what we’ve done, it puts not only our confidence up, but also the program’s confidence. We’re a big school with a lot of sports and at first volleyball was a small sport, something for basketball players to do on the side when they’re not in season. But we’re showing that our school, our program, it’s competitive and we’re going for city and state titles.”
For years, Payton and Young have been the dominant boys volleyball programs in the Chicago Public League. However, that’s changed in the past couple of years, as programs like Lane, Jones and Taft have started to make some noise and show that they’re ones to look out for as well.
“A lot of it boiled down to finding the right kids,” Lane coach Amy Wallace said. “When I started here, they already had an established program and competed with those other programs, but never found its footing for success.
“The first couple of years, we were going to these big tournaments and sometimes finishing dead last but then winning the bronze bracket, moving up to the silver and then making and staying in the gold brackets the last two years. It’s been a process year after year and we’ve found kids that love to work in this process. They love the sport and are driven by the sport, by each other and want to succeed in it.”
In many instances, getting kids to believe in a program and selling kids on a program can be a tough thing to do.
Wallace feels like that hasn’t been as big of a pain for her and Lane.
“The biggest compliment has been that I don’t have to pitch kids joining the program,” she said. “They come to our games, see the kids, see the fun the kids are having. It’s serious work in practice so that you can have that fun during the games.
“People want to join an environment that makes you feel welcome and the kids do a great job of welcoming each other, whether you’re a senior who has been playing the sport for six years or a freshman, who has never picked up a volleyball before. From that first day as a freshman, we’re all one program, we’re not three separate teams.”
Following a rough two-weekend stretch where they struggled against competition at the Lincoln-Way East Invitational and Northshore Invitational, the Champions got hot and just at the right time.
Following a loss to Libertyville on May 8, the Champions rattled off 11 consecutive wins, nine by sweep, as it headed into the state’s final eight against Marist.
“I think one thing that truly helped us, from the first day of the season, even, is that we had a goal to reach, being able to play on June 6th,” Barwicki said. “With that mindset, going into the regional final, the sectionals, we’ve always had the thought of leaving it all on the court, using our might giving it our all, all to end up still playing June 6th.
“Even me, as an example. I came into Lane for purely academics, the only thing I knew about sports was that girls flag football made a deep run in the playoffs. I knew there were many steps I needed to take to improve and I think that’s not something I could have done without this program.”
Barwicki learned the game and improved quickly, as he will be playing collegiate volleyball this season at Quincy University.
“I had grown up playing soccer my entire life,” he said. “But I remember coming on a visit to Lane and a player coming up to me in the middle of the hallway and drawing me to the volleyball table, telling me all about the volleyball program and since that day I knew that welcoming environment was for me.
“That very first day, I was nervous in the hallways, even afraid to talk to people in the stands at tryouts, but having one person walk up to me, introduce himself and me to the entire program, it was enlightening. It made me want to be part of a program like this.”
With players like Barwicki and Mohamed Abdelradi, who will play at the Illinois Insitute of Technology, graduating, returnees like Ports will be looked at to take the reigns.
It’s something he feels he’s ready for.
“One of the big things they’ve taught me is that each player is his own individual,” he said. “They need to be treated and talked to differently because everyone is different and thinks differently.
“Learning how to treat people better, both on and off the court, has been very valuable.”
The Champions will look for a three-peat in the spring with a lot of talent returning.
Photos by Allison Conwell/OSA
Photos by Galdones Photography
