Lake Park's Krisik ready for anything
The captain of The Daily Herald 2014 All-Area boys volleyball team is senior setter Quin Krisik of Lake Park, who led the Lancers to a fourth-place finish at state.
The Lancers' success is partially the result of a decision that was made by the team last summer.
After their junior season of high school, Krisik, who had been a top-level club player the previous two years, and his close friend, libero Anthony Amore, suggested the Lancers stay together as a club team year-round.
Krisik, who was looking ahead to all-star recognition and attention from colleges during his senior year, might have been sacrificing the exposure of high-level club team play with Sports Performance volleyball club.
However, the experiment was a success as the "Jousters" of Lake Park, playing as an independent club team, made it to the national tournament.
An added bonus was that the team was in volleyball shape when the 2014 high school season started. And this was to be important high school season for the Lancers' predominantly senior team, because for the first time Lake Park would be playing in the powerful DuPage Valley Conference, and the Lancers wanted to make an immediate impact.
"We were a little reluctant to keep the team together in the off-season," Krisik said. "To stay together all year, we could really be tired of playing with the same guys. But once we suggested it, the other guys were 100 percent in."
The team was coached by Lake Park assistant Matt McCown, who provided continuity in the club season, and because he had been the Lancers' setter several years before, McCown could contribute to Krisik's growth as a player.
"I was a little worried at the beginning that our team would not be as good as my Sports Performance club team," Krisik said. "And then we got off to a slow start to the season. But then we began working as a team and that was great, because we started winning consistently and qualified for nationals in St. Louis.
"We were like a 17-member family. We're best friends both on and off the court."
The Lake Park teammates developed into a cohesive unit that was ready to challenge the competition in their first year in the DVC.
"We were ready to go for the high school volleyball season from Day 1," Krisik said. "We didn't have the three-week period of adjustment that other teams have to go through. We jumped right into drills and scrimmages, and we had our timing down early."
The Lancers became obsessed with making a good showing in the DVC.
Lake Park coach Tim Murphy saw the difference in Krisik's game at the start of drills.
"The work he did with Matt McCown in the off-season gave Quin more perspective on the setting position," Murphy said. "He improved every aspect of his game."
Krisik credits McCown with a lot of his improvement during the club season.
"I respected Matt because I had seen him play at Lake Park," Krisik said. "He helped me improve my footwork and the speed at which I get to the ball."
Lake Park teammate Amore claims that Krisik has developed into the best volleyball player he's known.
"He does something every game to amaze me," Amore said. "He makes the game easier for all of us. He's able to turn imperfect passes into perfect sets. And his defense is fantastic. Because of Quin, we make plays we never dreamed of making."
"Quin was a key to our success as a team this year," Murphy said. "The timing and tempo of his sets is outstanding. We run the offense we run because of Quin's ability to set and make decisions."
Krisik agrees that he was seeing the court better this year, and he's now making quicker decisions and communicating better with his coach and his teammates.
"It's great when your setter can be on the same page as the head coach," Murphy said. "He is now more of a vocal leader on the court. And he's very competitive. He gets upset if we lose the coin toss."
"The coach and I are constantly talking during the game," Krisik said. "I try to give him a feel about what's going right and wrong on the court."
Krisik also talks to his teammates on every play, something he loves about being the setter and a team captain.
"It's fun to have that responsibility," Krisik said. "One of the strengths of our team is communicating on the court. We all make each other better. If one pass is weak, everyone is capable of making a correction to make the play successful."
"Quin gets us all riled up and ready to play," Amore said. "We feed off his energy. When he turns around and gets a block or a kill it gets us energized."
"Quin is not just a great setter," Murphy said, "but he's also our best server, and one of our best hitters, passers and defenders. The other guys also look up to him as a person. He's a high-character guy. He loves volleyball, but his education comes first."
It turned out to be a banner season as the Lancers won the DVC, made it to the state semifinals where they lost to eventual state champion Lincoln-Way East, and finished with a 33-8 record.
This summer the Jousters will go to Houston to play in the club volleyball championships.
Next year, Krisik, a member of the National Honor Society, will play Division III volleyball at the Milwaukee School of Engineering, where he will prepare for a career as a bio-medical engineer.