In seventh grade, Grant Urban played soccer, baseball and basketball.
More Top Picks Best Amazon Prime Day Corsair Gaming Deals
Who knew that during his senior year at Lincoln-Way East he would become a college recruit in football and a key player for the Griffins in volleyball?
Urban certainly didn’t.
“I had no idea where my career would go,” he said. “I actually thought I was going to be a professional soccer player, to be honest. I never thought that I would be doing this.”
His career path will be kicking for the Wisconsin-Whitewater football team, but first, he’s trying to help Lincoln-Way East go on a deep postseason run.
Urban, a senior outside hitter, tallied nine kills Thursday night to lead the Griffins to a 25-17, 25-21 victory over district rival Lincoln-Way West in the Kankakee Regional championship match.
Junior outside hitter Carter Geiger added six kills and nine digs for Lincoln-Way East (28-10), which won its third straight regional title and 18th overall. Henry Yacobozzi added five kills, while Rylan Kim recorded 23 assists and Marty Dwyer totaled 14 digs.
Colin Baikie led Lincoln-Way West (22-15) with 10 kills. David Neylon followed with five kills, Aiden Kettelson notched 18 assists and Mason Thompson tallied 14 digs.
Urban, meanwhile, has been a marvel to watch, spending three years on the varsity after getting a late start in volleyball.
“It’s a lot easier to excel at any sport if you are as athletic as he is,” Lincoln-Way East coach Kris Fiore said of Urban. “He could be a great basketball player. He’s just an athletic kid.”
Urban didn’t play club volleyball during the offseason as he hopscotched around the county going to various kicking camps.
“It took him a little while to get going because he didn’t play in the winter when a lot of the other kids were playing seven or eighth months straight,” Fiore said of Urban. “But we knew it was just a matter of reps and getting him comfortable again.”
Geiger, a George Mason recruit, confirmed that Urban can be a top-notch motivator.
“He gets all the guys going and everyone loves him,” Geiger said of Urban. “You can hear them cheer his name.”
Those cheers will be going again at 10 a.m. Saturday as Lincoln-Way East faces another district rival in Lincoln-Way Central (30-6) in the O’Fallon Sectional semifinals. The match will be played at Lincoln-Way East.
The Knights beat Homewood-Flossmoor 25-23, 25-17 to win the Andrew Regional. Lincoln-Way Central and Lincoln-Way East split two meetings during the regular season.
More Top Picks Neuro Optometric Rehabilitation What It Is And Who Needs It
This was a gratifying regional title for the Griffins, who at one point were 8-7 after losing senior outside hitter Joey Abbeduto for the season due to shoulder surgery and battled assorted other injury woes. They are on a 13-match winning streak.
“The season didn’t start out the best but we got back and had a big run,” Geiger said. “Everyone has a lot of energy, even the bench, and that’s a key part of our program.”
While Urban does damage by attacking and blocking during the spring, in the fall of his senior year, he used his kicking leg to help Lincoln-Way East win football games and help fight cancer.
He signed up to the Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer and picked up monetary pledges for every point he scored on field goals and extra points. He pointed out that he donated approximately $1,000.
“I thought it would be a nice thing to do,” Urban said. “I really wanted to make my season on the field help make an impact off the field. I posted a link on Twitter and sent it out to my family.
“I definitely got a lot of support from them and the word spread.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.