Roncalli makes history as state champs in boys’ volleyball
The players, coaches and managers of the boys’ volleyball team of Roncalli High School in Indianapolis are all smiles on May 31 at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Ind., as they celebrate winning the first Indiana High School Athletic Association’s state championship in the sport. (Photo courtesy of John Smith of Roncalli High School in Indianapolis)
By John Shaughnessy
After his team had completed its heart-stopping comeback on the way to a historic state championship, the coach who helped his players through that defining moment admitted to having an unusual reaction.
“Honestly, I feel like I blacked out a little bit,” recalls Nick Jennings, the head coach of the boys’ volleyball team at Roncalli High School in Indianapolis. “If you replay that situation 20 times, we don’t win any of the next 20. But we won the one we needed to. It was so much relief, excitement and chaos. Every emotion was running through my body.”
The comeback happened during the team’s semi-final state championship match against Fishers High School, with Roncalli trailing 14-12 in the fifth game that was being played to 15—with the winning team needing to win by two points.
Calling a timeout, Jennings gathered his players and calmly told them, “Hey, you’ve earned the right to be here. You’ve done this all year. We’ve practiced this. Have confidence in who we are, be unselfish, and we’ll make it out of this situation.”
Roncalli won the next four points, their head coach “blacked out,” and 2 1/2 hours after that emotionally-draining match on May 31, the team walked back onto the Mackey Arena court at Purdue University in West Lafayette for the opportunity to win a state championship—the first ever state championship in boys’ volleyball that was sanctioned by the Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA).
And across the net from them was their Catholic school rival.
Powerhouses and a powerful moment
Through the growing years of boys’ volleyball in Indiana, the teams from Roncalli and Cathedral High School in Indianapolis have been the powerhouses in the sport that included 133 teams from across the state this year—a number which led it to be sanctioned by the IHSAA.
In years past, under the banner of the Indiana Boys Volleyball Coaches Association, both schools have won numerous championships, including the previous three years by Roncalli. And going into this year’s state championship tournament, Roncalli was ranked first in the state and Cathedral second.
“It’s fun to compete against the best,” Jennings says about Cathedral. “You look at the history of the sport, they were the giant that nobody could beat. And now Roncalli has become that powerhouse.”
Roncalli continued its recent dominance in the state by beating Cathedral for the state championship, 25-14, 25-22 and 25-23.
In the overflowing joy that followed the championship point, Jennings shared hugs, high-fives and huge smiles with his players and his assistant coaches, who include Will Buechler, Andrew Gallagher and Dom Jannazzo. An extra special moment was shared with the other assistant coach, Jennings’ mother, Jane (Deak) Jennings, a 1983 Roncalli graduate.
“She coached me when I was in high school,” says Jennings, a 2011 Roncalli grad. “A lot of the things I’ve learned came from her. I don’t think I’d want to coach with anybody else. We gave each other the biggest hug when it happened because we both wanted it so much. To have that finally pay off—the relief and the love you feel after you finally do it is utterly amazing.”
That love extended to his family in the stands at the championship, including his wife Emily, his father Paul and his three siblings and their families. And that feeling of family flowed toward the players and their parents, with a special focus on the seven seniors who led the team—Eli Berger, Ben Buechler, Matthew Dial, Joey Evans, Elijah Goers, Chris Griffin and Aiden Hill.
“We had great senior leadership,” their head coach says. “It’s probably the most confident group of players I’ve ever coached. And they earned the right to be confident. They’re also aggressive and dedicated. We knew going into the season we were going to get everybody’s best. And they wanted it. That shows a lot about the kind of kids we have in this program.”
Jennings also shared one more defining quality of the players.
A team for the ages
“We pray after every practice. We pray before every match,” Jennings says. “We definitely keep God and the Catholic faith at the forefront because I do believe we are where we are because of the type of players we have. They have that relationship with God.”
The journey to the state championship was also highlighted by the support of the Roncalli family.
“The amount of support we had at Mackey was so incredible,” Jennings says. “We had so many students, parents and family friends. Anytime we traveled, it didn’t feel like an away game because we had so many fans.”
During the week following the state championship match, Jennings was back in the gym, holding a volleyball camp for grade-school children, focusing on the future. Still, the memories will linger for a long time from making history as the team to win the first state-sanctioned championship in boys’ volleyball.
“This one meant more than any other championship we’ve played in,” Jennings says. “We knew at all times during the season that we had the best six on the court. We may have not always had the best player, but we definitely had the best team on the floor. We knew if we played together, we would do exactly what we set out to do.
“It’s been so cool to see these boys get the love and attention they deserve. It’s an unreal feeling that I never thought I’d get in my life.”
(A story about the state championship season of the girls’ softball team of Cathedral High School in Indianapolis will be featured in the July 11 issue of The Criterion.) †
