Boys volleyball: Glenbard West's big event a casualty of lost season
Like Daniel Burnham, Christine Giunta-Mayer doesn't like to make little plans.
That's why the Glenbard West boys volleyball coach arranged for her team to play two matches outdoors May 22. And Giunta-Mayer went through a whole list of "what-ifs" while spending about a year and a half working on the unprecedented event, the "Volley Lights King of the Hill Stadium Classic" to be played under the lights at Memorial Field.
She missed one big "what-if," of course. Giunta-Mayer didn't plan for the COVID-19 pandemic canceling most - if not all - of the spring sports season. "Pandemic was not in the what-if column at all," said Giunta-Mayer, who waited until the IHSA decision on April 21 to cancel the state series. "This is like I wake up every day and wonder if it's real. I've got to pinch myself."
Even if the IHSA does permit a handful of matches at some point this summer, and the state association left open the possibility, the classic will not be played.
The logistics were complex. Getting everyone who needed to sign off on the event to sign off, arranging for bleachers, arranging for a court, crowd control, concessions and more. Other coaches - "Even if they weren't involved in the event," Giunta-Mayer said - were going to come out and help the Glenbard West, Marist and Naperville North players and coaches put the court together on the turf of Memorial Field.
"I know she did a ton of work to get it to be possible," Hilltoppers senior Ty Brandt said.
"It took a lot of time, a lot of work, a lot of thought process," Giunta-Mayer added. "It was a constant revisiting every week."
The event was a special one for the Glenbard West players, who are accustomed to playing in special events. The Hilltoppers won state championships in 2015, 2016 and 2017 and came 2 points from defeating Marist in the state final during a 38-4 2019 season.
"We were all super excited for a chance to go out there and play," Brandt said. "It was a one-of-a-kind thing that no one's ever done before. It would have been just a cool experience that would help show the sport off in a new way."
"The sole purpose of it was to highlight boys volleyball in the state of Illinois," Giunta-Mayer added. "It's growing so rapidly and kids are finding so much success in it ..."
The Hilltoppers were to play Naperville North in the first match, then defending state champion Marist in the second.
"It would have been a state rematch and we were all looking forward to that," Brandt said.
It might also have been a preview of the 2020 state championship match being played just before the state series was to begin. With nine seniors on the roster, the Hilltoppers liked their chances.
They will never get a chance to find out. But they know Giunta-Mayer isn't done with the classic.
"We're going to do it next year," she said.