WWS Hall of Fame

Back in the fall of 1990, I was the senior setter for the Tiger Volleyball team at Wheaton Central and we had just beaten Glenbard East, our perennial nemesis, at their home for a share of DVC Championship.  We had worked so hard as a team to build something that wasn't there before and it paid off in wonderful ways. We were trying to build a tradition.

A lot of changes happened during my time playing Tiger Volleyball. We had three different varsity coaches in four years, but finally found stability with Coach Fitts who incidentally just retired from teaching this year!  Volleyball was becoming more popular in town with the inaugural boys' team, the growth of club volleyball and the beach courts at Rice Lake Rec. The Tiger Volleyball tradition was growing!  For the first time ever our team had three players that went on to D1 schools. I ended up at Ohio State and then the National team, Laurie Smith to Wisconsin and Neelam Desai to Tulane. My years at Wheaton Central were some of the happiest of my life.  I was growing as a student and volleyball player with some of my closest friends to this day. 

Today so many female athletes are finding a home on the volleyball court just like I did.  I am so proud to be a Tiger and love how the tradition has continued to grow at WWS. Keep putting in the time and good things will happen. I'll be cheering you on from Boston. Go Tigers!

WWS Tiger Volleyball will always hold a very special place in my heart. My years as a volleyball player at WWS helped me grow as a player both physically and mentally, in addition to developing important leadership skills on and off the court. Coach Daryl Fitts helped me pursue my dreams of playing Big Ten Volleyball by pushing me as a player physically and also challenging me to increase my mental aspect of the game in terms of strategies and creating game plans. My experiences as a Tiger volleyball player are memories that I will cherish forever and I am so grateful for all of my WWS coaches and teammates. 

Fast forward 25 years and I have two daughters who love volleyball and will one day go to WWS. I look forward to watching them pursue their own Tiger Volleyball careers and love knowing they will participate in a high school volleyball program with such a rich history and tradition of excellence.

When I look back at my time at Wheaton Warrenville South my fondest memories are as a part of the Tiger Volleyball program. Stepping into the gym for the first time, I knew I was joining a culture steeped in excellence and success. Between both girls and boys programs there were numerous trips down state, conference titles, and athletes off to continue their athletic journeys in college and professionally. I loved the exceptionally high standards that were set in the gym each day, where we set goals to finish each season at the top of our conference and to make deep playoff runs. Surrounded by elite coaches and teammates, I grew as an athlete and as a teammate and the experience propelled me to play at the next level in college.

The memories made on the court were paralleled with some incredible memories outside of the gym. We had epic team pasta dinners that included ice cream gutters and never ending breadsticks. We crammed 18 teenagers in a minivan and trekked up to northern Wisconsin for a team bonding weekend. We jammed out to homemade mixed tapes on bus rides to away matches (since these were the ancient times before smart phones and Spotify). The memories go on and on and will have forever shaped not only my high school experience but helped build the foundation of the athlete and person I grew to be in college and beyond. Semper Tigris! .