By Dominic Scianna
The road to the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) State Finals is not an easy path in any sport. Head coach Michael Quevedo and his Whitney Young Dolphins boys varsity volleyball team had been close time and again in their quest to go to the state championships – until 2023. This time they pushed through and entered the quarterfinals on June 2 at Hoffman Estates High School as one of the Elite 8 teams still standing for a chance to win a state title.
“My sophomore year we got to the regional finals and in my junior year we lost in the sectionals – so we improved every year and now to make it downstate (beating St. Ignatius College Prep in three sets for the sectional championship) means the world to me and our team,” said Whitney Young senior Tyler Tharpe, who will be attending Ohio State University on a volleyball scholarship in the fall.
Whitney Young’s opponent in the quarterfinal would be a familiar foe in Oak Park River Forest High School. The Huskies (22-6) would end the storybook finish for the Dolphins in two hard-fought sets to win a tightly contested match, 25-20, 25-20 ending the Dolphins’ season.
“We’ve made so much progress in learning how to stay aggressive and work out a system of play for our team,” said Quevedo, talking about Whitney Young’s keys to advancing to the state finals. “And having a CPS student going to a Division I program is a huge accomplishment. I’m so happy to have had him (Tyler) in our program and develop not only physically, but mentally and emotionally.”
Oak Park was led by its own star in Ball State University commit Peter Zurawski, who seemingly made big kill after big kill to thwart a Dolphins comeback bid in the two-set battle. Zurawski and his squad had seen and defeated Whitney Young on May 11 in a hard-fought, two-set victory in Oak Park, so they were prepared for Tharpe and his play-making teammates like outside hitter Bryce Williams, junior Adrian Pitzele, and sophomore libero Marty O’Brien.
“He’s really good (Tharpe) and we knew this Whitney Young team was the real deal because they gave us trouble (in the regular season). They have some really high-flying players but we game-planned for them and kept the pressure on throughout the match to get the win,” said Zurawski.
Williams, a Illinois Wesleyan University commit, had a great season of his own and is credited with getting the 6-foot-8-inch Tharpe – a basketball player at the time – to try out for the volleyball team three years ago to see if he’d enjoy the experience. He did, and the best friends would make for a lethal pair at the net and help lead the Dolphins to success on the court throughout their high school careers.
“It’s a little sad that it ended this way but we made CPS history as one of just a few teams to make it downstate in volleyball. Plus, It was great playing with Tyler because we had that chemistry between us, and to do what we did with these guys and this team was special. They are great people and it’s something I’ll never forget.”
For Tharpe, it’s been a labor of love for the sport of volleyball at Whitney Young (26-9) that has turned his sports aspirations around full circle in just a few short years.
“I’m looking forward to going to Ohio State and I’ve seen how good the sport and the competition could be after playing club volleyball,” he said. “So now to go on and play at the college level and possibly play professionally afterwards really excites me.”
