Marist’s Jordan Vidovic was humbled to win the American Volleyball Coaches Association National Boys Volleyball Coach of the Year award.
He was also happy to bring back All-American awards for graduated RedHawks Nathen Toth and Christian Teresi as well as an MVP award for Griffin McElroy for his play in the Karch Kiraly Tournament of Champions.
And Vidovic felt good about Kiraly, one of the biggest names in men’s volleyball, presenting him with the award and talking about Marist volleyball.
But the biggest takeaway for the Marist coach during the Dec. 18-21 convention that coincided with an NCAA Division I women’s championship in Kansas City, was the impact the 2025 RedHawks made across the nation.
Marist finished 40-2 and won its second straight IHSA title in June. Along the way it captured the Kiraly Tournament championship, which was a historic win for a Midwest team.
“Coaches were telling me about the impact that this team will have on boys volleyball in general,” Vidovic said. “I’ve had different coaches reach out to me about how to go about creating those opportunities outside of Illinois.”
He said that coaches from Arizona, California and Hawaii said that the sport can push the envelope with bigger national tournaments with new states sanctioning volleyball.
“We will really feel the impact of what this team did in the next five or 10 years on the high-school level for boys,” Vidovic said. “To hear that from some of these people was the coolest part for me.”
Vidovic has made plenty of history of his own. He is also the girls volleyball coach and has won boys and girls state championships in the same calendar year two years in a row.
The 2025 boys team was impressive, but Vidovic is not putting pressure on the 2026 squad to be able to match that sensational season.
“This team will never be duplicated and that’s OK,” he said of the 2025 team. “Each team will have its own identity.
“Now it will be fun to start it over a little bit and try to build it back up in the same way.”
Spartans sizzle in Florida
Oak Lawn’s girls basketball team headed to Florida and won the Tampa Bay Christmas Invitational.
The Spartans’ 50-45 win over Sunlake (Fla.) earned them the championship and earned coach Mark Sevedge his 200th career victory with the program.
Sevedge, who was the St. Laurence boys basketball coach from 2009-2014, joined the Spartans in 2014 and is the third straight Spartans coach to win 200 or more games, He joins Chuck Davelis (204 from 1983-99) and Janet Haubenreiser (257 from 1999-2014) in hitting the 200-win milestone.
Bianca Fleitas was named tournament MVP.
Green hits 1,000-point mark
St. Xavier’s Jaidn Green scored her 1,000th point in a 77-57 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference win over Viterbo on Jan. 3 in Chicago.
The Evansville (Ind.) native is the 24th player in program history to reach the milestone.