Hononegah sets new standard for boys volleyball in the Rockford area
Before last year, no NIC-10 boys volleyball team had ever won a game past the regional level.
Now Hononegah has won two. That is still not enough to get to state. Hononegah lost 18-25, 25-21, 25-18 to Barrington in the Fox Lake Grant Sectional finals Tuesday. That’s the second straight year Hono fell one match short of the state quarterfinals, both times after winning the opening set.
Hononegah isn’t there yet. But it is achingly close. And that’s the legacy these seniors, led by Ball State recruit Braydon Savitski-Lynde, leave behind.
More: Rockford's top boys volleyball teams are rivals on the court, best friends off it
“Our senior class left a nice little legacy of memories," coach Annie Curran said. "They are taking this conference to a really good turn in the right direction. Other teams are going to see how we have succeeded the last couple of years. They are going to want to work hard and beat us. That’s exciting for NIC-10 volleyball. That’s going to take all of the programs in the right direction.”
Boys volleyball is the league’s newest sport and has been around for less than a decade. It is one of the smallest NCAA sports, with only 23 schools in Division I and 25 more in Division II. But it has fast become wildly popular at the NIC-10’s two best boys volleyball schools, with both Hononegah and Jefferson drawing massive numbers for tryouts.
“Volleyball has grown a lot,” said Savitski-Lynde, a 6-foot-6 outside hitter who quit basketball to concentrate on volleyball this year. “People who didn’t know about it, now they are finding out, watching games and seeing this is a cool sport. Then they want to try it themselves and fall in love with it.”
Hononegah volleyball has gone through Savitski-Lynde the last three years. But an earlier Hononegah player may have been even more important to the program’s rise.
Jake DePauw, one of three Hononegah grads now playing for Morningside, an NAIA volleyball school, has long been the team’s Pied Piper.
“He would say, ‘We’re going to play pickup’ and force kids to go with him,” Curran said. “He was so adamant. He helped this program grow.”
And he set an example for those to follow.
“My seniors said after we lost, ‘We’re going to go to college, then we’re going to come back and coach for you. Or I am going to work for my family, but I am going to come back and coach.’ It’s really great that they have this love for Hononegah volleyball,” Curran said.
“We,” senior designated server Isaiah Dingus said, "are just carrying on what Jake started. We’re going to continue to be loud and proud about volleyball and spread the word.”
The word now is Hononegah is one set short of state. NIC-10 teams don’t have to stop winning after regionals end any more.
“We set a new standard of what’s possible,” Savitski-Lynde said. “We went further than anyone else has gone (from the NIC-10). We showed no matter where you are from, you can do whatever you dream of. We placed the bar higher than what it was. I am looking forward to seeing if anyone can beat it.”
Contact: mtrowbridge@rrstar.com, @matttrowbridge or 815-987-1383. Matt Trowbridge has covered sports for the Rockford Register Star for over 30 years, after previous stints in North Dakota, Delaware, Vermont and Iowa City.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Hononegah sets new standard for boys volleyball in the Rockford area
