College Achievers: Familiar faces leading College of DuPage men’s volleyball
The College of DuPage men’s volleyball team, led by coach Tolis Koskinaris, has won a program-record 16 straight matches after Thursday’s three-set win over Bryant & Stratton (Wis.).
COD (27-2) is headed to the eight-team National Junior College Athletic Association National Championship, held April 23-25 at the college’s own PEC Arena in Glen Ellyn.
College of DuPage has been ranked No. 1 in the NJCAA the entire season. Its roster is comprised nearly entirely of area players.
Against Bryant & Stratton, sophomore opposite hitter Danny Overlin, a graduate of Glenbard East High School, slugged 16 kills while freshman Adam Sanchez (Elgin) and sophomore Brayden Tejeda (Glenbard West) had 7 kills apiece. Freshman setter Max McDermott (Glenbard East) led COD in assists and digs, with 27 and 17, respectively. Sophomore libero Jahir Lopez (Glenbard North) came up with 8 digs.
Koskinaris established the Chaparrals’ men’s team in 2023 and, in 2025, they won the NJCAA Invitational national tournament. Also COD’s women’s coach, he has led that squad to a top-five national finish each of the last four seasons including 2022. That season, the COD women won the national tournament and Koskinaris was named NJCAA and American Volleyball Coaches Association coach of the year.
Fellow locals
At Lewis University, on April 9 the NCAA’s 16th-ranked men’s volleyball team earned its first victory over a top-10 opponent since Jan. 10 (Stanford). Flyers freshman setter Wyatt Jones (Lake Zurich) dished out a season-high 31 assists in a five-set victory over No. 7 Ball State.
On April 7, Loyola setter Ryan McElligott (Mundelein) earned his second weekly Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association award of the season as MIVA offensive player of the week. In a pair of 3-set sweeps over No. 12 McKendree and No. 11 Lindenwood, the 6-5 senior totaled 58 assists, 6 kills, and 5 aces. On Saturday No. 9 Loyola (18-7) came back down to earth in a three-set loss to Ball State for the MIVA regular-season title. McElligott led all players with 33 assists.
Speaking of Lindenwood, earlier this season Lions libero Lincoln Geist (Downers Grove North) earned his first MIVA defensive player of the week award of the season and his second overall. In a pair of wins at Queens University of Charlotte (N.C.), the 6-foot sophomore averaged 2.25 digs per set and had a 100% reception percentage on 40 total attempts. In the first match, he helped hold Queens to an .057 hitting percentage. Sweeping No. 17 Ohio State on Saturday, Lindenwood’s 20 wins are the most it’s had since the university in St. Charles, Mo., became an NCAA program in 2012.
Cream of the Cream and Crimson
Indiana University’s Josh Bey (Hinsdale Central) was named the Big Ten Conference men’s swimmer of the year and men’s freshman of the year. Helping the Hoosiers win a fifth straight conference title, Bey’s 400-yard individual medley time of 3 minutes, 34.90 seconds broke Big Ten, meet and program records and stood as the eighth-fastest time in NCAA history. Bey is the first man since 2017 to win Big Ten swimmer and freshman of the year in the same season.
Later, at the NCAA Championships, Bey finished second in the 200 breast stroke at 1:48.79, the 10th fastest time in NCAA history. He scored 41 points at the meet to help Indiana place third as a team. Bey was a first-team All-American in the 200 breast, the 200 individual medley, and the 400 individual medley.