Boys volleyball: Lake Zurich's Amos captains Lake County all-area team
Ask most male athletes what parent got them started in sports and the father figure will come up. Not true for Lake Zurich senior Nate Amos. His mother, DeAnne, was a volleyball player early and took the sport to college.
"I wanted to play intramural volleyball," Amos said. "So I started in my church league and then Issac Fox and Middle School South."
Amos has graduated from Lake Zurich High School. He now has college volleyball offers to mull over. The man in the middle helped bring the Bears' program to historic sites. His final team made it to state. When the program started in 2010, Lake Zurich won five matches. Amos was on the 2015 team that posted the school's first winning season (20-18 record).
When Amos connects with a volleyball, it goes straight down to the floor. When the senior blocks a ball, the other team's players must surely duck. For his pure power skills and key role in getting the first Lake Zurich team to state, Amos has been selected as the captain of the Daily Herald All-Area boys volleyball team for Lake County.
"He's our dominating force in the middle," Lake Zurich senior Andrew Gilbertson said. "As long as I've been here, he's dominated in the middle."
Fellow senior Nick Meyer appreciated the energy and power Amos brought to the floor.
"He's a big team player," Meyer said. "And, gosh, when he gave you a fist pump after a kill, you felt it."
Lake Zurich coach Lesly Ravenscraft is well aware the Bears don't get to state without the help of Amos.
"Because of his experience and success in club volleyball, his teammates look up to him and follow his lead," Ravenscraft said. "This year he has grown into a strong leader who is a main reason our team is going to state for the first time in Lake Zurich history."
Amos finished with 112 blocks. His 217 kills were impressive as well in a balanced offense. Amos also had 54 digs, including a gorgeous one in the final game of the season last Saturday.
Volleyball has been the great diversion in Amos' life. His athletic mother lost her battle to ALS on March 24. The school held an ALS event soon after her passing, and the senior greatly appreciated.
"It was definitely a struggle," Amos said. "I used volleyball as an escape. And the team definitely backed me up."
On the court, Amos has seen a positive trend that paid dividends this season.
"In the last two or three years, teams couldn't wait to play us," Amos said. "Now, they say, 'Oh (no), we have to play Lake Zurich.' We've become such a dominating team."
Amos is a year-round volleyball player. He plays at Adversity.
"This sport is growing," he said.
On the college front, Amos is fielding a few offers. Iowa is clearly one choice but he knows scouts will be out looking for a dominating middle come this summer.
Amos' Bears finished fourth in the IHSA state tournament held at Hoffman Estates. Amos registered 22 kills in the three matches while patrolling the middle for the Bears.
"If you would have said at the beginning of the season that we would finish fourth in the state, no one would have believed it," Amos said. "This is a massive accomplishment. And now, we have this massive trophy."