St. Charles East grad Spicer racks up accolades at Dominican

St. Charles East graduate Luke Spicer is the embodiment of hard work paying off.

Spicer, who put an extra emphasis on off-season training after the 2016 campaign, turned in his best season yet for the River Forest-based Dominican University men's volleyball team that plays at the NCAA Division III level.

Spicer helped lead the Stars in just their fourth year of NCAA existence to the national tournament in Springfield, Mass. Dominican also won the 2017 Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League title where Spicer was named the most valuable player of the tournament.

Spicer's season-long efforts where he hit .330 and averaged 1.38 digs per set and 0.78 blocks per set also earned him American Volleyball Coaches Association all-American first-team status.

"A lot of it started after last year and within a week of the season ending," he said. "I wanted to get stronger in the weight room. Not only did it help with my play on the court but it also has helped with keeping me healthy and maintaining throughout the long season."

Spicer plays the right-side hitter position for the Stars where he also has been hard at work perfecting that craft. "I refined a lot of minor details," he said. "I worked on my angles both hitting and blocking and on defense I worked on my footwork. It's paying attention to the little things."

One facet of his game that Spicer honed in on in particular was hitting line. "A lot of times a righty will have a harder time hitting that shot from the right side," he explained. "That's my bread and butter. I knew if I could hit that shot it would help me tremendously."

Dominican coach Dan Ames, who was named the Division III coach of the year by the AVCA, said he saw a different Spicer this season.

"His athletic ability always has been above and beyond others, but this year he turned into a volleyball player," the coach said. "He has been a leader on and off the court from the moment he stepped foot onto campus. He has been a team captain for the volleyball team the past two years and has been an exceptional student. All of his accolades are well-deserved. Luke has worked hard for each one of them."

Spicer, who clubbed at Fusion and Naperville Volleyball Club while in high school, said the journey to the NCAA Division III tournament is something he won't soon forget. "It's been fantastic," he said. "The seniors on the team started the whole program. We have come together as a family and everybody bought into what we are doing. We knew what we wanted to do and we had goals in mind.

"We had a saying in the preseason: 'For the boys.' We stuck to it and maintained that. We did this for each other over everything else. What matters is the guys to your right and the guys to your left. These guys on the team mean everything to me and the coaching staff. This season ended up being something we will remember forever. Getting to the (final 8 teams) was great."

Spicer is a history education major at Dominican and would like to teach history and coach after college.

"With coaching, I always want to be involved in sports," said Spicer, who noted he will do his student-teaching in the fall of 2018. "I want to teach kids what sports can teach you. I played football as well and I would love to coach football and volleyball. The experiences you can get from both is something I want to share with many younger generations."

Spicer added his academic career has further been bolstered through the volleyball program. "Dan emphasizes making sure we do well in the classroom," he said. "He tells us volleyball is the seed for us educationally and socially as well and that's something that's helped all of us branch out beyond our work in the classroom."

Ames has no doubt Spicer will succeed in the coaching profession. "Luke also has excelled as a coach with children," he said. "I am very happy to say this young man will be guiding tomorrow's youth. The sky is the limit for Luke and our team is lucky to have him for one more year as our leader."

Spicer labels his time in the Dominican men's program as a "crazy ride."

"I came in a year after the program started, but I feel like I'm part of that first class," he said. "We have gotten so much better each year and our record shows it and now we have this experience to prove it."

Angelo to be honored: Elgin Community College baseball coach Bill Angelo will be inducted into the Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference Hall of Fame June 8 at the President's Luncheon at McHenry County College.

Angelo, who was an all-conference baseball player at ECC, has won more than 650 games at the helm of the Spartans program. Angelo's teams have made 5 NJCAA World Series appearances, won 7 conference titles, five region titles and five district titles. Off at College will have more on Angelo in a future installment.

Walsh at Quincy: For those who followed Fox Valley Conference high-school softball in recent years, McHenry graduate Dana Walsh is a sophomore center fielder on the Quincy University softball team.

Through the team's first 42 games, Walsh, a nursing student, hit .289 with 33 hits in 114 at-bats and 20 runs scored. Included in those 33 hits were 5 doubles, 3 triples and 3 home runs. She also had 17 RBI, 11 walks, a .465 slugging percentage and a .349 on-base percentage. Of note in the field, Walsh had 5 outfield assists among her 93 total chances. Quincy was 16-26 overall through those first 42 games.

Weiss at ECC: South Elgin graduate (Class of 2016) Rachel Weiss is finishing her freshman year at Elgin Community College. Weiss, who hopes to pursue a career in business and is aiming to continue her studies in New York, was a three-sport athlete at South Elgin. Since leaving South Elgin, Weiss has taken up running and has trained on her own. Weiss recently participated in her first marathon in late April in Geneva, running in the BQ2 race where she completed the full 26.2 miles and gained key insight from other runners aiming to qualify for the Boston Marathon.

Off at College wants your help: Send information and/or statistics on Fox Valley-area athletes playing collegiately to Mike Miazga at mjm890@gmail.com. Spring college sports submissions are encouraged.