Brother Rice’s Kevin Lufrano beamed before Monday night’s match.
Terry McEldowney, the senior libero’s grandfather, sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” before the nonconference showdown with Marist — and Lufrano was proud.
“He’s been singing all his life,” Lufrano said. “He comes to a lot of our matches, and it’s awesome to have him here.”
Lufrano also had a right to be proud after the match. His 12 digs helped the host Crusaders stun Marist 27-25, 16-25, 25-20 in Chicago.
Shauniel Nelson led Brother Rice (25-6) with 13 kills, while Brendan McCarthy had 11 and Nathan Kramer added eight. Luke Dwyer totaled 33 assists. It’s the first time the Crusaders have beaten the RedHawks since 2018.
Marty Canavan finished with eight kills for Marist (31-3). Christian Teresi had 10 digs, five blocks and 32 assists.
Brendan Schoeberl, a senior libero for the RedHawks, contributed eight digs. Schoeberl is also Lufrano’s cousin and a grandson of McEldowney.
“He lives across the street from me (in Oak Lawn),” Lufrano said of Schoeberl. “We’ve played volleyball our entire lives. We played a lot of pepper in the backyard.”
Lufrano is giving up volleyball after this season. He’s heading to Purdue to study nursing.
“He’s a heady guy,” Brother Rice coach Dan Dwyer said. “He’s a calm and controlled player. Even in the late stages of this match, he was comfortable in what he was doing.”
Midseason switch: A baseball player switching to volleyball is not a rare occurrence.
Unless you are Richards’ Sam Cain.
The 6-foot-5 middle hitter switched sports during the season. After three weeks without seeing much action for the baseball team, Cain made his volleyball debut in an April 13 match at home against Tinley Park.
The last time he played the sport was in eighth grade.
“Baseball wasn’t working out for me and I wanted to try something new,” Cain said. “The first few games were hard, but I’ve been feeling good lately.”
Richards coach Troy Grevengoed said he’s been after Cain to play volleyball since freshman year.
“For four years I wanted that kid,” he said. “Finally, he saw a window and said, ‘Coach, can I still give it a shot?’ I said, ‘Of course.’
“The baseball coach (Jeff Kortz) was great about it. The athletic director (Brian Wujcik) was great about it. They think he is a great kid and deserves that chance.”
Is it too late in the game for colleges to come calling? Grevengoed doesn’t think so.
“He’s going to get something,” Grevengoed said. “There are going to be opportunities knocking. There are like 15-20 NAIA teams looking for middles. He’s interested, and I think we will find him a spot.”
College volleyball or not, Cain is glad he made the switch.
“If it doesn’t work out, I’m still happy I joined,” Cain said. “It’s been fun.”
Last stand: Dan Dwyer’s career is winding down. After this season, he’s retiring following a career as an assistant or head coach for all 31 years of the Brother Rice program’s history.
Paul Ickes, who won 559 matches for the Crusaders from 1993 to 2014, and Dwyer’s son, also named Dan, gave speeches before Monday’s matchup. More than 100 alumni were in the stands watching the match.
“The best part about this night is having those players here,” Dwyer said. “They came from all over. Now, they are upstanding, respectable citizens and most of them have families. It’s pretty cool.
In 31 years, Dwyer missed just four matches, including approximately 10 years ago when he needed a pacemaker put in after he had heart issues.
“I was back for a match the next day,” Dwyer said. “My wife was not happy with me for that.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.