As a sophomore, Marcus Gonzalez’s athletic perspective changed while participating in Elgin’s boys volleyball summer camp.
“I’d been playing volleyball since seventh grade, but for the first time I was having a blast,” Gonzalez said. “I was playing basketball then, too. That’s when I decided volleyball was my real passion.
“So I decided to pursue that and stopped playing basketball as a senior.”
The 6-foot-4 Gonzalez became the Maroons’ top outside hitter last season when Elgin set a school record for victories. He plans to play Division III volleyball next year as a biology major at Greenville.
He’ll be the first Elgin boys player in college in seven years. But first, he’s hoping to help take the Maroons’ dramatically improved program beyond last year’s 20-15 record.
“Definitely I feel like my jump serve is better and I have more power,” Gonzalez said. “I’ve increased my vertical doing jump training, and I’m hitting it harder with more top spin.”
Gonzalez supplies more than hitting skills. He has become a leader.
“It’s weird with kids between their junior and senior years, but a lot of times it happens,” Elgin coach Scott Stewart said. “He’s the same athletic player, better vertical and better serve. But now he’s an awesome captain, motivating guys as a leader.”
Gonzalez thinks success was a matter of taking the sport more seriously. He played club in the offseason to improve his game. Several others also felt compelled to go the club route.
“I definitely notice a difference in the amount of passion for the game and our willingness to get better,” Gonzalez said.
Senior right-side hitter Walker Demel is another of those experienced leaders. And when the 6-4 Demel is combined with Gonzalez, 6-8 basketball standout Courtese Cooper, 6-3 David Ramirez and 6-5 Antonio Campagna, the result is a different type of game than Stewart is used to seeing.
“If we can get the ball to our setter (Frank Ceballos), our hitting is amazing,” Stewart said. “We can be a very dangerous and exciting team.
“It used to be we’d never even get a 6-footer. We had 5-11 guys who were scrappy and played with energy and heart. Now they’re 6-4, 6-5, scrappy and play with energy and heart.”
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Boys volleyball is at an all-time high in Illinois participation with 218 IHSA teams. The popularity is more than reflected at Elgin.
The Elgin boys volleyball program began 20 years. Stewart played for the Maroons.
“When we set the record with 20 wins, there were seven or eight we lost in the third game, so we felt like we could have easily had 24,” Stewart said.
Last season, all three levels at Elgin won 20 or more matches. When practices started this season, Stewart had a record 66 players trying out for three teams.
“Kids want to be part of something,” Stewart said.
Increased interest goes beyond victories. Facing a financial crisis, U-46 middle schools dropped football and instituted boys volleyball three years ago as a cheaper replacement.
“We’re getting more kids who already have exposure to the sport,” Stewart said. “Before everyone coming in was serving underhand and stuff.”
Elgin won its own invitational last season, but enters 2017 with loftier goals.
“We want to win the (U-46) district tournament for the first time,” Gonzalez said.
With South Elgin, Larkin, Streamwood and Bartlett fielding less-experienced teams, an opportunity exists for even more. Perennial area power St. Charles North looms as an obstacle.
“Elgin has never reached a regional final,” Stewart said. “It’s our goal to be in that match and to win it. That would be a huge step.”
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