Glenbard South softball coach Voves was ‘not just a colleague but a friend’

They knew the day would come. Retired Glenbard South softball coach and business teacher Bill Voves had suffered health problems for decades.

News of Voves’ Oct. 18 death at 77 still hit his colleagues hard.

“He wasn’t just a colleague, he was a friend,” said Andy Preuss, the former Raiders hall of fame track and cross country coach who met the man at the Glen Ellyn school in 1980, five years after Voves arrived.

“Guys like him were what made Glenbard South special. It was more than just a job, it was relationships, and I think the kids benefited from that as well,” Preuss said.

“Anything that was good, he was involved in,” he said.

In 2004 Voves was inducted into the Illinois Softball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. From 1979-2005 his teams went 522-271 with only three sub-.500 seasons in 27 years, none after 1992.

In 2022 Julie Fonda, one of his star players now in her 21st year coaching the Raiders, joined Voves in the ISCA hall.

He coached her as a volleyball assistant, announced her basketball games, walked her out to the shortstop position as a freshman, where she played four years.

“He’s like a second dad to me,” Fonda said. “He’s been all things to me — he was my coach, mentor, friend, second dad. He’s been my guy since I was 14.”

Voves, who led with positivity, was a Chicago South Side native, a White Sox fan, a movie buff, a bibliophile, a stock trader, an Army Reservist. At Glenbard South he was an early advocate for girls sports.

“He empowered women before it was even a thing. He had that feeling about him that gave you the thought that you could do anything,” Fonda said.

“He’s a guy that would look you in the eye and give you the honest truth, too. He told me when I was wrong, encouraged me when I was right. He gave me and a lot of young girls the power to lead and believe in ourselves, and believe in each other,” she said.

Preuss and Voves became fast friends, playing recreational volleyball together, joining fantasy sports leagues. Their wives were friends, too.

Preuss certainly was affected upon taking Pam Voves’ call with the sad news, but while remembering his old friend later over the phone you could almost hear Preuss smiling.

“He was the best,” Preuss said. “Every time I think about him I laugh.”

‘A full-circle moment’

In the process of defeating Warren Oct. 16 at the Palatine Invitational, Libertyville girls volleyball coach Greg Loika looked around and realized he had an unofficial program reunion on his hands.

“All of a sudden in the third match I’m seeing faces from like, 10, 15 years ago, and I’m like, ‘Why are they here?’ And then I look over at my assistant coach (Jenny Smith) and I’m like, ‘What did you do?’” said Loika, also a social worker at Libertyville.

Smith had spread the word that the 18-year Wildcats head coach was on the cusp of a landmark 500th victory, of which Loika was unaware.

“I am not an ‘it’s-about-me’ coach,” Loika said. “For myself, it’s all about the kids and the families and the relationships.”

The results bear out his philosophy.

Unbeaten in 27 matches this season until falling to Lake Zurich on Oct. 14, Libertyville is 35-1 entering Thursday’s Class 4A Palatine regional final.

Loika’s overall record now stands at to 505-175, which includes a 2014 state runner-up spot and a 2012 fourth-place finish, plus 11 regional titles and five sectional titles.

Win No. 500 came on Loika’s youngest daughter’s ninth birthday, against his own prep alma mater, and was celebrated not only by his current and past players in the gym, but by well-wishers who contacted him later.

“That’s been the most fun of this whole thing, is just getting to hear from and talk to people who were with us 10 years ago, 15 years ago, six years ago. It’s just been a nice full-circle moment,” Loika said.

“To me that’s just the highlight of all this. It’s a signal that I’m a little older than I want to admit, but also that we’ve built some really good things with a lot of really amazing people over the years, and for that I’m super-thankful and very proud.”

Stars at St. Charles North

Within three days, two St. Charles North athletes compiled awesome achievements.

On Oct. 21, Kaelie Tomalak, quarterback and safety of the North Stars’ state champion flag football team, earned MaxPreps’ nod as Illinois player of the year.

Leading the North Stars to a 26-0 record and a first state title in flag, the senior passed for 4,590 yards and 72 touchdowns against five interceptions. Tomalak added 1,587 yards rushing and 18 touchdowns.

On Oct. 24 at the Class 3A DeKalb girls cross country regional, St. Charles North junior Kara Glenn ran a winning time of 15 minutes, 47.30 seconds on the 3-mile course.

She finished about a minute and a half before the second-place finisher.

Glenn’s time in DeKalb was swifter than the state-record 15:53.4 Barrington’s Mia Sirois ran at Detweiller Park in the Class 3A final in 2024. Should Glenn advance to Peoria and duplicate her regional time, she will earn a new state record.

doberhelman@dailyherald.com