By Dominic Scianna

Senior Seth Williams put his team’s accomplishments into perspective after the Whitney Young Dolphins (19-13) won their third straight Chicago Public League Boys Varsity Volleyball Championship yesterday at Little Village High School.

“This year was the hardest championship to win because we didn’t have any star players as we’ve had in the past,” he said. “The whole season we talked about living up to the legacy that we’ve created at Whitney Young. We wanted to prove that we are the best volleyball program (in the Chicago Public League) and we did that today.”

Jones College Prep came into the championship as the top seed boasting a 24-9 record with star player Dallas Birkenbeuel, a Merrimack College commit, leading the charge for the Eagles. But it was the Dolphins’ relentless hustle and athleticism that proved to be the deciding factor in Whitney Young’s 25-19, 25-10 victory in the title match.

“The team was committed every single day and trusted the process,” said Whitney Young coach Michael Quevedo. “We are so excited to have this third championship as a launching pad for the upcoming (Illinois High School Association) state playoff series.”

Williams and fellow senior Adrain Pitzele were the catalysts for the Dolphins, keying a 5-0 run to stretch the Whitney Young lead to 11-6 with consecutive blocks by the duo, and a huge kill by Williams to give his team the early momentum it needed. Whitney Young never relinquished the lead in cruising to an opening set 25-19 win.  

Marty O’Brien, the quarterback of this squad as the junior libero, knew getting off to a good start in the second set would benefit his team knowing all too well that Jones (who they had split matches with in two regular season meetings) was a dangerous opponent that they had to put away. 

“Throughout the season we had a worse conference record as last year but coming in as the number four seed (for the CPL playoffs), we knew we had something to prove,” said O’Brien. “We got the first five or six points to start the second set against Jones and got on a roll. That’s when I knew we were going to win.”

Jones head coach Howard Hu told his team that one loss doesn’t define what a great season it has been for his squad and that their runner-up finish should be something they can be proud of moving forward.

“The moment can get big when you have players who haven’t been in this situation before, but I’m so proud of our team and proud to be their coach,” Hu said. “I remember when we first started and weren’t even in the top (CPL) conference. We’ve come a long way.”

And for Hu, in talking about Birkenbeuel’s impact to his team, lamented about how privileged it was to have a player of his caliber in the Jones program.

“He (Dallas) could have gone anywhere in the city or state to play volleyball and he chose Jones, “ said Hu. “He’s super coachable, super selfless, and is a great teammate that spent extra time this year to help our younger players. It’s been a pleasure coaching him and I’m excited to see what’s next (in his volleyball career).”

Photos by Jim Vincent/OSA

Lane Defeats Taft in JV Boys Volleyball Title Game

In the opening game of a championship double-header at Little Village, Lane Tech won a thrilling three-set victory over top seed Taft 25-17, 22-25, 25-21 to capture the CPL JV Boys Volleyball crown.

“We all agreed as a team that we’d win with our blocks and that’s what we did against a good Taft team today,” Lane head coach Brian Telles said. “Our chemistry really got going the past few weeks and after it was over my first reaction was a fist pump. It was a culmination of all our hard work paying off.”

Sophomore Hagen Bonnette led all players in kills for Lane as the Champions avenged a finals loss last year to Von Steuben. Other contributors in the win were: sophomores Anthony Suarez, Mo Abdelradi, Gray Jimenez, and Gabriel Xerogianes, along with freshman Evan Lam.

Coach Payton Litney’s Taft Eagles were led by freshman Nathan Vancil, Nicolas Pasala, and Matthew Kanter, along with sophomore’s Milos Ivic, Dmytro Karpets, and libero Minh-Son Tinh. 

“Lane didn’t let up after we took the first set,” said Litney, “It was a great match and we played our hearts out. I’m very proud of our team and what we’ve accomplished.”

Photos by Jim Vincent/OSA