How Guilford returned to the top of the NIC-10 in boys volleyball

Matt Trowbridge, Rockford Register Star

One point from its first NIC-10 boys volleyball title in eight years, Guilford hit a serve into the net. Two points later, three-time defending conference champion Hononegah had tied the match at one set apiece.

And Hononegah then scored the first four points of the final set. That could have been a crusher. After all, Guilford had only a pair of runs longer than two points in the second set. But Guilford quickly regrouped to spoil Hononegah’s senior night and basically wrap up the NIC-10 boys volleyball title with a 25-19, 25-27, 25-15 victory Thursday night.

“I wasn’t worried,” said Guilford senior Callum Draxinger, who had nine kills. “We came back a bunch of times earlier in the night and we have done so against other teams, like Harlem. I was totally cool. I know my defense can pass. I know my setter can set. I wasn’t worried.”

“We just have to believe in each other,” added Guilford junior middle blocker Jaden Webster. “We can be down whatever. We just have to believe in ourselves that we can come back and get the win.”

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After that slow start in the final set, Guilford went on a 7-1 run to go ahead 7-5. The Vikings (15-1, 12-1 NIC-10) never trailed again.

“We put a lot of heart into the second game and they were a little gassed from putting all their energy into game two,” Hononegah coach Annie Curran said.

“It was resilience. Just resilience,” Guilford coach Trace Noack said. “The kids don’t get shaken. They make bad plays. They make good plays afterward. They don’t let bad stuff get them down.”

It’s been an interesting year for the NIC-10’s youngest sport. Both Belvidere schools field teams for the first time, instead of forming a co-op. Freeport doesn’t have a varsity team yet, but added a JV squad for the first time and plans to join the varsity ranks soon. And after Hononegah became the first league school to reach the sectional finals the last two years, coming achingly close to reaching state both times, this year’s race has featured more balance.

Guilford’s lone league loss was to fourth-place Boylan, but the Vikings also had to go to three games against fifth-place Auburn and both matches against Hononegah (18-8, 12-3). Third-place Harlem (16-11, 11-3) split its league games against Hononegah and lost 2-1 to Hono in a non-league match. With only games against Harlem and Jefferson (9-11, 5-7) remaining, Guilford has clinched at least a tie for the NIC-10 title.

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“Us, Hononegah and Harlem has been fun, every match,” Noack said.

Boys volleyball is growing up after debuting in the NIC-10 in 2016.  It produced its first NCAA Division I player in Braydon Savitski-Lynde, who was third on the team in kills as a freshman this year for a Ball State team that was nationally ranked and won its conference regular season title. Hononegah has competed well with suburban powers the last two years. And now Guilford has shown it can stand toe-to-toe with Hononegah — and pass the Indians.

“We haven’t had any success since before I was here,” said Webster, who also had nine kills, one behind team leader Adonis Hilton's 10. “But we have a good squad. We have really good outsides. We have good middles. Our team is so complete. I just love it.”

Guilford closed out the match in style, scoring the last two points on a service winner by Amir Ballazhi, followed by a match-ending ace.

“I said, ‘Amir we need you. Go bring it home.’ And he did just that,” Draxinger said.

“Credit to my guys,” Noack said, “for not letting the second set get into their heads and change the way they played.

“It feels good to achieve what they have achieved so far — and hopefully some more going into the postseason.”

NIC-10 boys volleyball standings as of May 9, 2024

School, Conference, Overall

  • Guilford, 13-1, 15-1

  • Hononegah, 12-3, 18-8

  • Harlem, 11-3, 16-11

  • Boylan, 9-5, 10-5

  • Auburn, 6-8, 9-21

  • Jefferson, 5-7, 9-11

  • East, 3-10, 3-16

  • Belvidere North, 1-12, 2-13

  • Belvidere, 1-12, 2-21

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Guilford, 1st NIC-10 boys volleyball champ, is now latest NIC-10 champ

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