Lessons from Hall serving Molly DeSerf, Tricia Samolinski well in coaching careers

Two former Hall players, Molly DeSerf of Bolingbrook (left) and Tricia (Linnig) Samolinski met for the first time as opposing coaches on Sept. 17.

Molly DeSerf and Tricia (Linnig) Samolinski learned a lot about playing volleyball and witnessing highly successful athletic programs at Hall High School.

Perhaps the biggest thing they each picked up was a passion for the sport and teaching others.

Both have established highly successful volleyball programs in the Chicago area.

Samolinski, in just her second season, led Montini Catholic to the IHSA Class 2A state championship last year, defeating Pleasant Plains 25-16, 25-17 for the title.

“They dominated that circuit. They had an incredible run,” DeSerf said.

DeSerf has turned Bolingbrook, a school of more than 3,400 students, into one of the top 4A programs in Chicagoland, a defending regional champion and sectional finalist. She is in her sixth season as the Raiders’ head coach and 13th in the program.

On Saturday, Sept. 17, their teams met on the court for the first time. It is something they’ve been wanting to do and were happy to make it happen.

“I am really excited we finally made it happen and hope it is something we can continue to do for years to come. I’m hoping we can make it an annual Red Devil rumble,” Samolinski said.

“Molly has worked hard and really turned the Bolingbrook program around. They are a tough 4A competitor and have been really successful this season against really tough opponents.”

Bolingbrook, now 20-3, edged Montini (11-7) in a highly competitive match, winning 25-19, 20-25, 25-22.

Samolinski (2000) graduated two years before DeSerf (2002) at Hall, each benefiting from the Red Devil experience.

“I think we share the same sentiments about our experiences at Hall and we use a lot of our past experiences to help build our programs,” Samolinski said. “We had great role models at Hall and I personally love the nostalgic feeling you get coaching high school volleyball.”

“There’s a ton of pride in athletics at Hall High School and when you’re able to compete in a place where there’s a tradition of winning, you wanted to be a part of that,” DeSerf said. “There was legacy programs that you understood what it took to be a part of it and the success that came with them.”

DeSerf said she especially gained a lot of knowledge and coaching ways from volleyball coach Laurie Polte as well as softball coach Gary Vicini.

“Polte was incredibly focused on work ethic. She was a great mind of the game,” she said. “It was really cool being an athlete under her, but also being able to have someone you respect how they did it and kind of push you and lead your way.

“I’m sure Tricia would say the same thing, just a ton of respect for her knowledge of the game knowing how to push that competitive edge on you, but I think Polte did a great job growing great rapport with her athletes and building some true relationships with them and they would run through a wall for her.”

While their teams had never played previously, they do talk a lot of volleyball.

“Probably too much,” DeSerf said with a laugh.

“We have both leaned on each other and have met up to discuss volleyball throughout our years as head coaches,” Samolinski said. “It is so great to have someone in the volleyball community that supports me as well as our program.”

Samolinski runs the First Alliance Club where DeSerf sends many of her players, saying, “it’s very cool you know your kids are getting taken care of.”

DeSerf has a unique dual role as not only the head girls coach, but also the head boys volleyball coach at Bolingbrook. Boys volleyball plays in the spring.

She says the two sports have completely different styles of play.

“Where (girls and boys) basketball is the same, they’re two completely different games,” she said. “It’s good to have both programs. You have the ability to try to mesh the two two styles of the game.

“The girls are very detail oriented and a lot more ball control. The guys is a much more physical game, lot of sideout ball. Our two programs work pretty close to each other.

“It’s nice for them to get that style of play from the other side of the program. We’re a little bit grassroots. That’s kind of what we’ve been building on.”

The two programs share time together during summer camp, DeSerf said, and learn from one another.

“The guys have to work a little bit harder to put the ball down because the girls are a little bit more solid on defense,” she said. “The girls have to work a lot harder on the net with a bigger body across the way and working a little bit harder for stops.”

Deserf said the boys and girls teams are great to support one another in the different seasons.

Kevin Hieronymus has been the BCR Sports Editor since 1986. Contact him at khieronymus@bcrnews.com