The boys’ varsity volleyball team is feeling like champions after advancing to sectionals by defeating Notre Dame in the regional finals in both sets 25-14 and 25-18 on May 25, Ann Kotsadam, Varsity Head Coach, said. 

The team is coming off one of their best seasons with a regular season record of 33-1 and finishing first in the Central Suburban League (CSL) South division for the first time since 2003. With a successful regular season performance, they punched their ticket to the playoffs. They began their run on May 23, starting off strong with a win against Von Steuben, winning both sets 25-12 and 25-9 and securing another victory against Notre Dame. 

Even with all the success the team has faced this season, the team was tested against Notre Dame early on in the second set as the score was back and forth, Kotsadam said. However, the team rose to the challenge to rally past Notre Dame to win the second set, Kotsadam explained. 

“Our kids play well when our backs are up against the wall,” Kotsadam said. “We just had to be confident and play our game.” 

Varsity middle Paddy Costigan explained that when the team needed some momentum on their side, their serves kept them in the game. 

“We were in a little bit of a funk and [then] we started making our serves again,” Costigan said. “[We began] putting the ball in [play] and it all started going our way. All of the runs with serving helped us out because it was a game that depended on the quality of serves.”

For the three seniors on the team, continuing to battle through adversity has been important as they do not want their last high school volleyball season to end, Alex Rupprecht, senior varsity outside, explained. 

“The way I see it, every game is my last opportunity to play in this dome that I have been playing in for three years,” Rupprecht said. “I want to extend the season as long as I can—that is what motivates me to go out there and give it my all every game.”

As the boys’ volleyball team is set to face New Tier on May 27 in sectionals, the team plans to focus on their fundamentals and not let the high stakes atmosphere of the playoffs get the best of them, Rupprecht said. 

“When we try to do too much [and] try to look into their play too much we get lost in our own details,” Rupprecht said. “As long as we stay focused on our play and hit our goals that we set every game we are going to be in a good place going into sectionals.”