Streamwood's Kwon bows out

Streamwood girls volleyball coach Kevin Kwon stepped down from that position Thursday.

Kwon, who finished with a record of 66-144 in six seasons with the Sabres, said it was time to take a break from coaching high school volleyball and continue his education.

He will remain a physical education teacher at Streamwood while pursuing his Master's degree in curriculum and instruction through Olivet Nazarene University.

"I've been thinking about it for a while from the standpoint of my professional growth," Kwon said. "I've been holding off getting my Master's.

"And I needed a break from volleyball. It can be overwhelming from August to October, always go, go, go. I don't know how some other coaches do it for 20 or 25 years, getting home at 9-9:30 p.m. It's very tiring, and I thought I needed a break. I don't want to do a mediocre job, so I'll get going on my Master's and take a couple of years off. I'll come back when I miss it, and I know I'm going to miss it because volleyball is still a big part of my life."

Kwon will remain active in the sport away from the high school circuit. Not only will he be the head coach of the Sky High Volleyball club's elite 18-black team, which begins play in December, he is also still a player in the local USAV men's league.

Kwon took over at Streamwood in 2003 and his teams won a total of 5 matches in his first two seasons. But he slowly built the program into a winner around talented hitter Katie Post, the 2007 honorary co-captain of the Daily Herald All-Area team.

Kwon led the Sabres to back-to-back 20-16 seasons in 2006 and 2007 before the Sabres slipped to 9-27 this season.