Deep playoff runs used to be the norm for Sandburg boys volleyball.
The Eagles have four state titles and eight state trophies, but came into this season without a sectional title since 2016.
First-year coach Madisen Babich wants Sandburg to own the postseason again.
“Our senior group wanted to do better than last season,” Babich said after a 25-19, 25-18 win over Reavis in the Hinsdale Central Sectional semifinals on May 31. “We want to get Sandburg volleyball back on the map. As coaches, we want to keep the gas pedal all the way down. Mentally and physically, we want to push them, and it’s good to have change.”
It has been for the Eagles.
“We have a new coaching staff and an entirely new culture,” said Sandburg senior outside hitter Jeremiah Aro, who had a match-high 11 kills and two aces against Reavis. “They held us accountable. We just shut up and work.”
It’s the first time that Sandburg (35-4) has played for a sectional championship since 2017.
Facing upstart Reavis (31-3), which was making its first sectional appearance in 14 seasons, the Eagles found their groove at the end of the first set and kept it up the rest of the way.
The first set was tied at every point through 11-11 and 17 times through 18-18. That’s when senior middle hitter Will Ashum put down a kill to start a 7-1 spurt. Junior setter Easton Donausky (30 assists) and senior outside hitter Arron Dennie (seven kills) were also big for Sandburg.
JT Snider, a senior outside hitter who finished with six kills, had a pair of kills to open the second set as the Eagles jumped out to a 7-2 lead and led the whole way.
“I thought JT played better than I did today; he’s a leader,” Aro said. “But it’s an entire collective, and we just came together.”
With a trio of players at 6-foot-6 or taller, the Eagles’ height helped, too. Senior outside hitter Pawel Greczek had a team-high eight kills for the Rams.
“It was a really weird game,” Reavis coach Mike Jebens said of the opening set. “Neither team could settle in and get the momentum. But then their height got to us. Against Brother Rice (on Thursday), we felt big, and against Sandburg, we felt small. Their height got us.”
Still, the Rams shattered the school record for wins (the previous mark was 25, set in 2023) and had a special, senior-dominated season.
“I’ll never coach a group like this again,” Jebens said of his nine seniors. “These guys had an edge. They were a bunch of hard-nosed guys, and I’ll miss them.”
The Rams advanced with a dominant 25-18, 25-15 victory over Brother Rice on May 29 in the title match of the Reavis Regional.
Greczek (nine kills, three digs) and senior Joey Walus (five kills, three blocks, three aces) at outside hitter, plus seniors Brandon Wilke (six kills, three blocks) in the middle, and Krystian Paluch (18 digs) at libero, along with junior setter Skylar O’Neill (20 assists) came up big.
Junior middle blocker Ben Adamski led Brother Rice (30-8) with five kills and two blocks. But the Mikrut twins, seniors John and Zach, were held to a pair of kills each.
In the opening sectional match, Lyons — which had advanced to state the previous two seasons — fell 25-19, 23-25, 26-24 to Oak Park-River Forest in a rematch of last season’s sectional final.
The Lions (29-9) fought off a pair of match points in the third set on a kill and an ace by junior outside hitter Brody Lee-Caracci. But the Huskies scored the next two points to advance.
“We were down 10-5 in the second set and battled back to take it,” Lyons coach Brad Skendzel said. “Then we had a couple of errors in the third set that led to a run. At this level, we knew that it was going to be tough and give OPRF credit.”