Warren takes show on road

For the second consecutive spring break, the Warren boys volleyball team is taking its show on the road.

Last year, the Blue Devils traveled to Orlando for a tournament. This season, it's on to California, the state where the best boys volleyball in the nation is played.

Warren left Monday for a week in San Diego. After playing one match Tuesday and Wednesday, the Blue Devils will compete in the 12-team North County Invite at Poway High School on Friday and Saturday.

"We're going to be playing some of the best teams in (California)," said senior Ryan Schuette, who attended a volleyball camp this summer at Stanford. "It will give us a real feel for how we can do against teams from our area."

When Warren left on its trip last year, the team was an unknown quantity. By the end of the season, the Blue Devils had proved teams needed to pay attention to them.

The Blue Devils upset Stevenson in a regional semifinal and followed that up with a victory over Barrington in the regional final. Warren's season came to an end in the sectional semifinals against a Mundelein team that advanced to the state quarterfinals.

"We knew that we have to work harder and do a lot more to go to state," senior setter Jeff Halvorsen said.

Halvorsen will have plenty of familiar faces to set to this season. Warren returns all six starters from last year's team.

"We've been together so long that I think we have the potential to be just as good or better," senior Mike McGowan said. "We can learn from last year and improve even more."

Added coach Yun Chen: "We're trying to put the pieces together for another playoff run. The players are all excited to be back and they're setting some high goals for themselves."

Those goals did not include a sloppy two-game loss to Highland Park a week ago Tuesday in the season opener.

"The Highland Park game showed we still have a lot to fix," Halvorsen said. "Nobody was really on; too many people had a bad day at the same time."

The Blue Devils coaching staff will feature a new look this season. Kathleen Russell, the former head boys coach at Barrington, has joined the coaching staff as an assistant.

The Blue Devils can't wait to leave for San Diego so they can play a new opponent and put the Highland Park match behind them.

Last year, Warren's players said the spring-break trip jump-started their season.

This season, the Blue Devils are hoping a week in California will ignite their state-tournament dreams.