Boys volleyball: Lincoln Way East's Fiore named national coach of the year

After seeing his Lincoln-Way East boys volleyball program play for a third state title in the past five years, winning two championship during that time, coach Kris Fiore obviously was proud of the Griffins’ accomplishments.

And it’s clear that others from Illinois and the rest of the country took notice of East’s achievements as well after it capped a 39-3 season by rallying past Neuqua Valley in the state title match in early June in Hoffman Estates.

While the humble Fiore was flattered by all of the attention that he and his team have received, he was stunned when he learned last week that he was recognized as the nation’s 2018 Boy’s High School Coach of the Year by VolleyballMag.com/TallSlim Tees.

“To be honest, I was really taken aback by it and was quite surprised,” Fiore said. “They sent me an email, and I looked at the heading and opened it and was thinking that one of my boys was going to receive an All-American honor because a couple of them had been recognized, but as I scrolled through the email, I said, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s about me.’ It absolutely caught me off guard. It’s great to be recognized for the accomplishments of your team.

“It’s great not only for myself, but also my whole staff. This is a reward for all of the hard work that a lot of us have put in with the boys for quite a few years. It’s also recognition for the overall success of the program and all of the kids that we’ve had go through here.”

Jesse Alvarez has been part of his staff for eight years and Andy Wingate, who was a student and played for Fiore, is in his sixth year. Brian Danielson, a former Lincoln-Way Central head coach, is in his third season and Jon Johansen made his debut on the staff.

It was clear early on that Fiore had coaching in his blood, since his father, Ken, was a longtime boys bowling coach at Lincoln-Way Central and his sister, Karen Iliff, now coaches soccer at East. While doing his student-teaching in college at Iowa State University, he coached South Hamilton in Jewell, Iowa, to its best-ever season and a state berth.

The 2000 Lincoln-Way graduate played for Kendall Villa, who now coaches at the sophomore level, as well as for Dawn Murphy at Lincoln-Way and he later was an assistant coach under Murphy at East. Before that, he coached for a few seasons under Joann Holverson at Lincoln-Way Central before moving to East.

Fiore’s Griffins advanced to state for the fourth time in the past five years and won their third trophy, which features titles in 2014 and 2018 and a runner-up finish last season. His teams own a 292-58 record (.834 percentage) during his nine years at the school, and they have gone 169-29 (.854) in the last five seasons.

He joins three other coaches to win multiple IHSA titles in the sport. They include Wheaton Warrenville South’s Bill Schreier (seven titles), Glenbard West’s Christine Mayer (three) and Sandburg’s Holverson (two).

With many of his players back from last year’s state runner-up team that lost to Glenbard West, the Griffins expected to challenge for the state title again. They were led by two players who will continue their careers and educations at national power Loyola University Chicago, middle hitter Mike Herlihy and outside hitter Ian Piet.

Herlihy earned first-team All-American honors from VolleyballMag.com/TallSlim Tees and Piet was a second-team selection. Libertyville’s Jack Stevens, a first-team pick, was the only other Illinois players selected as an All-American by the website.

Fiore also gives credit to the local Ultimate Volleyball Club, one of the nation’s best, which has sent a steady stream of talent to East and other Lincoln-Way programs. And his program also has benefited from feeder programs in the grade schools.

“It’s not just me,” Fiore said. “They’re getting up to the varsity level after being groomed and taught the right way to do things, and that makes our job a little easier when they get to us since we can focus on high-level skills. It takes a village to have the success that we’ve had because they have to be built and coached for years.

“I played for both Kendall and Dawn, who had a ton of success. When I graduated from college, I coached for five years with Joann, and she also had a lot of success. I got the opportunity to learn the game from very qualified people who have helped me along the way. You take something from each coach and try to mold it to your own style.”

In a sport that’s characterized by its emotional highs and lows, both Fiore and his staff have a been a steadying presence with the calm demeanor that they show on the bench.

“Maybe early on in my career I wasn’t so calm,” Fiore said. “But something that we preach to the kids is that every point is only worth one point, and if you let your emotions boil over into the next point, that’s when problems occur. That’s when teams make big runs on you and you lose control of the game. So we have a three-second rule to either enjoy the point or to be upset.”