Kyle Harty, a Downers Grove South graduate, and Jonathan Poortinga, who played volleyball at Downers Grove North, have put their school rivalries aside to help North Central College get off to a big start with its first volleyball team.
The inaugural season begins in January but on Saturday, the Cardinals split into two teams and mixed it up with Fontbonne, Benedictine and Dominican in Naperville in exhibition matches.
Harty, a 6-foot freshman libero/outside hitter, enjoys the fact that his team is building a program.
“It’s awesome because anything we do will be history,” he said. “Whether we do good or bad, we will always have the history.”
Coach Kyle Exline wasn’t fooling around when he built the roster. He has 28 athletes – mostly from the Chicago area – including 22 freshmen.
“At the beginning, everyone didn’t really know each other,” Harty said. “But now everyone has become best friends. Everyone has different experiences and it is fun to compare them.”
Harty was a sophomore when Downers Grove South shocked the state by going on a hot run and winning the IHSA state championship.
“We weren’t expected to do that at all,” he said. “We were the first team to win state with 10 losses.”
Poortinga is a 6-5 freshman opposite hitter who was home-schooled, but was coaxed into trying out for the North team by a neighbor. He said he showed up in skateboarding shoes and khaki pants, but still earned a spot on the freshman team.
“I wanted to quit after my first year,” Poortinga said. “But one of the kids just begged me to come back and I ended up making the varsity my sophomore year somehow. I fell in love with it my first year on the varsity.”
He, too, is looking forward to how the Cardinals’ fortunes play out in the next four years.
“I was a late commit,” he said. “I had seen the high level of kids that were here. It kind of blew my mind, especially when I saw us play during camps in the summer. It’s going to be fun growing up and playing with these guys all four years.”
Exline is an Oak Lawn native who played volleyball at Loyola University and coached on the clubs, college and high school levels. At Naperville, he spent long hours recruiting.
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“I like to have a large roster in case any injuries occur or anything off the court may occur,” he said. “I want to make sure there is an opportunity for guys to play. We have a varsity roster and we will also have junior varsity matches for them to play.”
He said starting a program involves more than just sports.
“It has its ups and downs,” the coach said. “We have to make sure the guys are doing the right things on campus. We make sure they are doing the right things in the classroom and volleyball is the last part we are working with. Obviously we want to become very successful, but we want to make sure the guys are doing the right things all around the campus.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the baiduhai.
Twitter: @TribLocal