Milwaukee Reagan student helped create a co-op volleyball team. Now he's among the state's best players

SOUTH MILWAUKEE - Want a team to really root for?

The pandemic was the end of Ethan Jetzer’s volleyball team. The athletic director challenged him to build a new one.

So two years ago Jetzer emailed 20 schools, got two positive responses, and that resulted in three high schools combining to make a new boys volleyball team.

Now a senior, the 6-foot-2 hitter leads the state in kills according to WisSports.net. And his coach is a 24-year-old former student-athlete hoping to take this team, that used to be low on numbers and in wins, to a state tournament appearance.

Jetzer, 18, lives in a unique area of Milwaukee that is in the middle of Oak Creek, South Milwaukee and Franklin. He's been playing ball since his parents brought him as a toddler to their sand leagues. That led to Milwaukee recreation department volleyball and then membership with the Milwaukee Volleyball Club.

“I can’t imagine my life without volleyball,” he said.

Now, none of this would have happened if Jetzer could have played for the Reagan High School team in Milwaukee, because that volleyball team used to have a cooperation agreement with St. Anthony School Milwaukee and Golda Meir School in Milwaukee.

“And then at the end of my eighth-grade year, COVID hit. St. Anthony got a new athletic director and it was just kind of liquidated,” Jetzer said.

Liquidated. A horrible word to hear with our high school athletics. Jetzer’s freshman year was a bust. No fall sports season, no team, no volleyball.

In the fall sports season of 2021, Jetzer went out for cross country and was so good he made all-conference. Bringing volleyball back seemed improbable at Reagan, since he was told space is an issue, and there was no one who wanted to coach. The suggestion was made: Find other teams to collaborate with.

Making connections leads to new co-op

Jetzer used the school-issued Chromebook to look for any team that would take him, and Reagan, in a co-op.

At this time, Tyler Cicigoi was a college student at UW-Milwaukee and in his third year of coaching. After playing for South Milwaukee (Class of 2018), Cicigoi started coaching his old team at the age of 19.

Cicigoi would attend classes in the daytime. South Milwaukee was already a co-op team with St. Thomas More High School, and they had later practices, so Cicigoi could make the practices as a coach. But after seeing participation numbers drop after the pandemic, he became concerned. He wanted to keep his junior varsity team as well.

He wanted to answer that email.

“Two responses were just awesome,” Jetzer said. “One from the Thomas Moore athletic director, one from the South Milwaukee athletic director. And they were both open to the idea of including Reagan. And that was just awesome to hear.”

Before it would even become official – South Milwaukee United – for the 2022 season, Jetzer showed up to South Milwaukee’s open gym for volleyball work.

"I saw this tall kid. I was like, ‘This is gonna be awesome. He's gonna play middle for us,’” Jetzer said. “And he stuck his hand out and said, 'Hey, I'm Coach Cicigoi.'

“It was great. Right away I knew that he was going to be not only a coach but a friend."

“He really put in the work right away, he was ready to go,” Cicigoi said of that first impression of Jetzer. “He's a leader. We came from a one-win team. There's hope for this program to not just only be good but be great and just seeing that impact he made on the court in an open gym just was incredible.”

The 2022 season featured a starter from all three schools, Reagan, South Milwaukee and Thomas More. The team had a winning season before Whitefish Bay eliminated it in the playoffs. Four players made first-team all-Woodland Conference, Jetzer won player of the year, and three more players got second team or honorable mention.

The South Milwaukee United co-op team this year features five players from Reagan, three from South Milwaukee and seven from Thomas More.

“Yeah, I was I was a little nervous how all the guys would blend together like it's three schools. But immediately all the guys became friends,” Cicigoi said.

The team is also winning. Its hard to compare co-ops and history, but last year’s conference title might have been the first at least from South Milwaukee’s involvement since around 1992 and the school’s first winning team in five or six years, Cicigoi said.

Ethan Jetzer, Aaron Martin are two of the best players in the state

Now Jetzer is also among the leaders in aces.

“I feel like there's times where he's coaching me because because he's been playing a lot longer than I have,” Cicigoi said. “And he's constantly noting these tiny things he will see and he will call it on every player and every player listens to him because they see what he does on the court.”

Jetzer is also really fortunate to have a 6-5 setter. Aaron Martin, who also attends Reagan, is among the leaders in the state in assists.

"I've always had good hands and I decided if the team needs me to play setter, I will step up and play it," Martin said. "It has been one of the best decisions I have ever made."

“He played right side for club, he played middle for club, now he's setting for us,” Jetzer said. “It just really shows that work ethic that he's willing to learn a whole new position to give our team a chance."

Not that South Milwaukee United can count on any home-court advantage. When rain leaked through the roof months ago, the court had to be repaired and refinished and couldn't be used for the first half of the season. The team is used to being displaced anyway. South Milwaukee is also a community fitness center, so when the high school girls or middle school kids don’t have claim to the court, the rec department might.

"Although we have three different schools, we have a really good relationship with all of the players and coaches so we will find a way to get people to where they need to go," Martin said.

Cicigoi, who graduated from UWM in December and now works at Komatsu in Oak Creek, just messages his captains, including Jetzer, on Snapchat to tell them where meet for practice. Sometimes it's at Thomas More, and sometimes it’s pretty late at night. Somehow the coach, the kids and their parents are flexible enough to make it work. It's not easy to bond this way, so this team is even more impressive.

“I knew almost nobody coming in,” Jetzer said. “I knew two people from my school. That's it. I've met all 14 guys on varsity. Another 15 on JV. I say hi to them in the hallways at school. I've ran into some of the Thomas Moore guys at restaurants and stuff. It's just always nice to say hi.”

What a remarkable pair, Jetzer and Cicigoi. They can’t do anything about their circumstances, but they unified to improve their chances.

Opportunities for boys high school and men's college volleyball are limited

It’s crazy though that the state leader in kills isn’t getting Division I offers; there just aren’t many Division I men’s volleyball teams (less than 30). He really wants to go to D-III UW-Stevens Point anyway, hearing great things about the brand new team and the school.

But where are all the boys and why aren't they going out for volleyball?

“I knew that no Milwaukee Public Schools had a boys volleyball program,” Jetzer said. “So I didn't even bother messaging anybody there.”

“Our numbers went crazy down after the pandemic,” Cicigoi said. “I mean, we weren't a very good team but we were at least getting turnout.”

One issue might be single-sport specialization. Cicigoi said basketball athletes benefit from the jumping in volleyball and baseball players strengthen the arm. But so few athletes cross over.

“One of my buddies that I used to play club with, his high school basketball coach told him, 'You have to choose, is it club volleyball? Or is it school basketball,'” Jetzer said. “Every sport demands such a commitment. They all claim, we love it when you play other sports, but they all want their sport to be on top.”

There's only so much one person can do. Finding a team to collaborate with, leading the state in kills, finding a young busy coach willing to give up his fall for the sport.

Jetzer has gone above and beyond.

For South Milwaukee United's remaining schedule, click here.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Ethan Jetzer helps lead South Milwaukee United boys volleyball