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It wasn’t long ago that Hunter Vedder and his pals were in grade school, having the time of their lives in the stands watching Lincoln-Way West make boys volleyball history.
In 2018, the Warriors made their only state appearance. Vedder’s older brother, Tyler, was on the team along with David Flores, Ben Pluskota, Chris Dargan and Nicky Studer.
Many of Hunter Vedder’s friends during that time were the younger brothers of the players on that Lincoln-Way West team. And they peeked at the future.
“It was really fun,” Hunter said of watching the 2018 Warriors. “We knew we were all going to be together playing volleyball. We were playing together back then.
“We imagined that we could go to state. We’re trying to this season.”
Lincoln-Way West (7-2) definitely has a shot, with a roster consisting of six players with older brothers who played for the Warriors from 2017 through 2019.
Hunter Vedder, a 6-foot-2 sophomore middle hitter, watched Tyler play libero and go on to play at Orange Coast College in California.
Hunter would not be surprised if this year’s team becomes the program’s second team to make it to state.
“I like the teamwork we have and the camaraderie we have with each other,” he said. “Everyone knows each other very well.”
The Vedder brothers are not alone.
Andrew Flores’ brother David is now a setter at Ball State. Benen Flores, no relation to Andrew, saw older brother Hugh play for the Warriors and go on to Lourdes and St. Ambrose.
Connor Studer’s brother Nicky went on to play club ball at Illinois State. Will Pluskota’s brother, Ben, went on to play at North Central College.
Colin Dargan had two brothers play for the Warriors in that run. Chris and Conner both ended up at Trinity Christian.
Lincoln-Way West coach Jodi Frigo has enjoyed watching the younger brothers thrive.
“It’s like having that dream team all over again,” she said. “They are determined to go further than their older brothers and earn a state Final Four.”
Firgo said if the Warriors head to state this year, a letter tradition will continue.
“That year, I had all of the younger siblings and family members write a letter just wishing them good luck and what they mean to them,” Frigo said. “Then I gave them a giant envelope of their loved ones’ letters.
“These boys remember the letters they wrote. They are like, ‘Coach, are we getting letters?’”
The beautiful game: Senior middle hitter Alex Smith is playing his final competitive volleyball season for Marist. He plans on going into engineering, and the colleges he has in mind do not have men’s volleyball programs.
Smith, who wants to win a state title with the nationally ranked RedHawks, has good memories of the sport.
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He recalls being in sixth grade and playing basketball when he made a big decision.
“I hated it,” he said of basketball. “I switched to volleyball in the middle of the season.
“I really liked the players when I started and then I started to enjoy the game. It’s a beautiful game.”
Battle of Burbank, again: At the Argo Invitational, St. Laurence and Reavis played a match Friday in pool play, with Reavis pulling off a 25-15, 25-15 win.
That came 10 days after both Burbank schools opened the season facing each other at Reavis, with the Vikings earning a wild 24-26, 27-25, 26-24 victory.
There was actually a scenario where the two schools could have played Saturday for a third time if they both won or lost in the quarterfinals, but Reavis beat Payton and St. Laurence lost to Stagg.
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown
