With district rivals casting tall shadows, it can sometimes feel like Jack Yurkanin and Lincoln-Way Central are playing out of the spotlight.
“Not a lot of attention is coming to us,” Yurkanin said. “But after how we’ve been playing lately, we should get more.”
Yurkanin is doing his part to gain attention. The junior outside hitter pushed Lincoln-Way Central (18-11) to Saturday’s Silver Flight championship at the 24-team Lincoln-Way East Invite, with the Knights’ only loss coming in three games to fourth-place finisher Downers Grove North.
Still, it’s tough to carve out a niche with Lincoln-Way East and Lincoln-Way West making deep runs in nearly every tournament. Yurkanin hopes the plot might change come the postseason.
“Our setters are running an efficient offense, and we’ve got Garrett (McCrea) on the pins and Joe (Claffy) in the middle,” Yurkanin said. “Our middles are always running their route.”
Yurkanin, though, is crucial to Central’s success. He became one of eight outside hitters to earn all-tournament honors at the East Invite, along with Brother Rice’s Kyle Springer, Lincoln-Way West’s Ben Pluskota and Sandburg’s Cort Jensen.
“Jack is a really smart kid,” Knights coach Mary Brown said. “He knew he needed to work on his defense and he did a good job of that during the offseason.”
The three-year varsity member is already thinking big picture. He owns a 4.96 GPA and is hoping to play volleyball at MIT.
“I’m interested in engineering, of course, but aerospace is also something that interests me,” Yurkanin said.
The MIT men’s volleyball roster currently includes Lincoln-Way Central grad Michael Kulinski and Lincoln-Way West product Jake Gasparich.
But trying to engineer a lengthy postseason run comes first.
Seeding nightmare: Good luck seeding the Brother Rice Sectional.
Marist, Lincoln-Way East and the host Crusaders are three legitimate state title contenders, but who deserves top billing?
“I have no idea,” East coach Kris Fiore said. “See who has the most quality wins. Look at the caliber of the slate. It’s tough because there are teams who won’t even take the time to look at that.”
Marist downed Lincoln-Way East. Brother Rice beat Marist. Lincoln-Way East defeated Brother Rice in three of four matches but lost the last meeting.
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Meanwhile, Lockport, Lincoln-Way Central and a surging Sandburg look like the next best of the bunch. Central coach Mary Brown is hoping for a spot in the top six.
“It’s a tough year,” Brown said. “There are a lot of solid teams.”
Sectional seeds should be posted 4 p.m. Thursday on IHSA.org.
SSC watch: With the addition of first-year programs Bremen and Tinley Park, the South Suburban Conference split down the middle, with Red and Blue Divisions the same as football and basketball.
In the Red, Reavis outside hitter Radek Bryja is in the running for SSC Player of the Year. An all-tournament selection at the Smack Attack, Bryja is an offensive force and has helped Reavis (17-9-3, 4-0) to an undefeated mark in conference play.
Oak Lawn’s Donal Nugent and Richards’ Alex Costa are two others to consider.
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Nugent has a whopping 330 kills, while Costa, a high-flying sophomore, had all-tournament performances at the Smack Attack and Eisenhower Invitational.
In the Blue, watch for Oak Forest’s Tim Owens and Noah Olson. Owens, a senior outside hitter, was all-tournament at the Libertyville Invitational.
Logan Malloy is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
Boys Volleyball Top 10
Records through Tuesday with last week’s ranking in parentheses
1. Marist 26-4 (1)
2. Lincoln-Way East 26-3 (2)
3. Brother Rice 25-5 (3)
4. Lincoln-Way West 23-7 (4)
5. Lincoln-Way Central 18-11 (8)
6. Lockport 17-8 (5)
7. St. Rita 16-16 (7)
8. Providence 13-13-1 (6)
9. Sandburg 12-12 (NR)
10. Reavis 17-9-3 (10)
Player of the Week: Brother Rice senior Kyle Springer recorded 14 kills in a championship match victory over Lincoln-Way East at the Griffin’s 24-team invite. Springer, an outside hitter, was named to the all-tournament team.