Alumni Olympians, coach inspire St. Francis Spartans at watch party

A little girl waving a little United States flag started a chant of “Go USA” in St. Francis High School’s Rosmonowski Room in Wheaton.

The chant quickly was picked up by more than 40 Spartans girls volleyball players there for a watch party of the USA women’s volleyball team’s Olympic match Wednesday against Serbia.

One never knows — perhaps one of these players, even the little chant-starter, will follow the footsteps of three-time Team USA outside hitter Kelsey Robinson-Cook or assistant coach Erin Virtue, both St. Francis graduates.

“I think it’s super cool just seeing somebody who came from the same school and the same program as I did,” said St. Francis setter Addy Horner, sitting with incoming senior teammates Jenna Glaudel and Meg Taylor.

Like all the girls in the crowded auditorium they sported red, white and blue bead necklaces and “eye-black.” The Spartans’ veterans wore shirts noting St. Francis’ 2022 and 2023 Class 3A state championship titles.

“I think it’s really inspiring for all of us girls to see somebody that’s had this much success in the sport. It teaches us to set our goals super high and that anything’s possible,” Horner said.

Still, it’s hard to believe that St. Francis has not just two women but also a third Olympian with Team USA Volleyball.

Horner started her own chant when 2014 graduate Jeff Jendryk appeared on the room’s projection screen in an image from Tuesday’s 3-2 men’s win over Germany.

“It is fun just to see how far they’ve come, from big players at the high school level,” said St. Francis girls volleyball coach Lisa Ston (pronounced “stone”).

Ston and her predecessor, the legendary Peg Kopec, had experience with all three Spartans Olympians. Ston came to St. Francis in 2000 when Virtue was a senior, assisted Kopec while 2010 graduate Robinson-Cook played and took over the girls program in 2016.

“To hear them say in high school that this was their dream, and now to watch them make their dreams come true has really been special,” Ston said.

Joining the girls as they watched Team USA beat Serbia 3-2 — Robinson-Cook’s leadership was key in the pivotal fifth set, and she finished with 5 digs — was St. Francis President Phil Kerr, Principal Raeann Huhn and alumni representative Todd Shaw.

Of course, Kopec was there. A 12-time state champion and 51-year employee of the school, she amassed 1,248 wins in 42 seasons and would not miss this opportunity to see the current players watch Olympian Robinson-Cook.

“I wonder, sitting back and reflecting, how many girls has she inspired?” Kopec asked rhetorically. “How many girls, just by being her, has she encouraged to go for their dream? I think Kelsey has been a great representative not only for St. Francis but in volleyball.

“And Erin … seeing that their love for volleyball has another avenue after they’re not playing anymore, that’s what Erin represents at the highest level,” added Kopec of the Team USA assistant and head women’s coach at the University of Michigan.

That’s a long way off for incoming freshmen like Nora Orsinger of Wheaton. But she’s caught the fever.

“I just liked watching it with my parents, seeing them play volleyball and just seeing what maybe I could do someday,” Orsinger said of watching Robinson-Cook in Tokyo in 2021.

“I think it’s amazing just to know that somebody went to the Olympics from the school that I’m at. It’s very inspiring.”