Marist fell a spot in the national rankings without playing a game.
The RedHawks’ boys volleyball team entered the 2025 season ranked third in the nation.
Defending IHSA champ Marist, however, actually fell one spot before taking its first serve or pounding down its first kill.
The USA Today/American Volleyball Coaches Association’s initial poll on March 12 had Loyola High School of Los Angeles ranked first with Marist second.
But boys volleyball in California has already been in full swing for awhile and in the March 19 poll, Mira Costa of California took over the top spot, while Loyola fell to two and Marist to three.
All of the jostling of elite teams means nothing at the Mount Greenwood campus. Coach Jordan Vidovic has his team focused on itself.
“The older guys on the team know how to go about things and they were a part of the process to get to a certain level and they realize what it took internally inside our gym and inside our training area,” Vidovic said. “We’re relying on them — and there (are) so many on our team — and giving them the freedom of input and the freedom of controlling some of the things that we’re doing to get ourselves ready.”
He added the team has a “ton of excitement” for what lies ahead. The pressure cooker begins on March 28-29 with its own 24-team tournament played at Marist, the Marist Sportsplex in Palos Heights and Marian Catholic.
Local teams entered are the hosts, the Marist JV team, Riverside-Brookfield, Mount Carmel, Shepard, Argo and St. Rita. Teams ranked in the Illinois Prep Volleyball/Michio Chicago poll in the tournament include No. 6 Downers Grove North, No. 13 Lincoln-Way East and No. 19 O’Fallon.
After that, the RedHawks head to California on April 3 to face No. 1 Mira Costa and then play on April 4-5 in the Karch Kiraly Tournament of Champions in Santa Barbara.
Leading the RedHawks is Ohio State-bound Christian Teresi and MIT commit Nathen Toth.
Another wrinkle to the season is that Vidovic can win a third straight state title. After guiding the boys to the state championship in June, he coached the RedHawks girls team to a Class 4A title in November.
But that’s way down the line.
“We just want to enjoy the excitement of what we work hard to get ourselves ready for,” Vidovic said. “We put a lot of effort in creating some unique opportunities. We’re putting together some exciting competitive challenges ahead and we’re really just geared up for that.”
Coaches of the Year
Two area girls basketball coaches were named Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Coach of the Year for their respective districts for the 2024-2025 season.
Sandburg’s Nick Fotopoulos and Nazareth’s Ed Stritzel earned the awards after successful seasons in which both schools won Class 4A regional titles.
New coach at TCC
Tom Homa has been named Trinity Christian’s head women’s soccer coach.
The former Illinois soccer player held a variety of positions in recent years including a role as assistant coach with Northwestern. Prior to being hired at TCC, he was an assistant coach for the U.S. Soccer U-20 and U16 men’s youth national teams.