A season ago, Kankakee won the opening set of the inaugural All-City boys volleyball game against Bradley-Bourbonnais.

That game ultimately ended in heartbreak for the Kays, as the Boilermakers came back to take the final two sets and claim the first-ever All-City boys volleyball title.

This season, the first with Bishop McNamara also in the fold to give all three city schools a varsity program, it was the Kankakee’s turn to come back.

With a win over Bishop McNamara under their belts from March 31, the Kays (6-3) rallied after dropping the first set to Bradley-Bourbonnais (1-7) and took the All-City title they narrowly missed last year by scores of 19-25, 25-19 and 25-21.

Senior Trayvone Jackson, who caught fire with a dozen kills in the final two sets, said the All-City title meant a lot after the way last year’s game ended.

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Kankakee's Trayvone Jackson, left, watches his hit sail past Bradley-Bourbonnais' Trent Evans during a game at Bradley-Bourbonnais Thursday, April 9, 2026. (Mason Schweizer)

“We talked about this a lot, even in the offseason and in open gym,” he said. “We talked about it a lot and we’re really grateful for it. We were accountable for every single detail we had a lack of and that we had to work on and execute, and I just liked how we came together as a team to communicate.”

Kankakee’s latest lead in the opening set was at 3-2 before the Boilermakers took over. Their final three points to close the set same on two kills from Gavin Sikora and one from Jaiden DeMik-Jetton.

The second set was tied 11-11 after a back-and-forth stretch of play, but a kill from Kankakee senior Eli Cunningham put the Kays back on top. He later ended the set with a kill.

The Kays would only trail once in the final set at 1-0. It would be tied five times, the latest being 20-20 after a 6-0 Boilermaker run, but kills from Miles Yohnka and Aidan Littell ended the run and gave Kankakee the momentum back.

Cunningham scored two of the Kays’ final three points with a kill and an All-City clinching ace.

He said a comeback win like Thursday’s just shows how far the program has come in a short time.

“Last year, we probably would’ve given up after the first set,” Cunningham said. “We’ve worked on a lot of mindset stuff, we got a lot stronger, we have more endurance and we trust each other a lot more. We put trust in each other in order to get these kind of games done, and hopefully outcomes like this come more often.”

Kankakee head coach Matt Donley has also seen a lot of growth from his team through the process of getting the program off the ground.

He said seeing everything come together for a win like Thursday’s was a rewarding experience.

“We just started our program a couple years ago, and that was a struggle our first year,” he said. “To see how far we’ve come in the two years since, I’m just so happy for all the boys. I know how much it means to be able to play against their friends and claim All-City. It’s special.”

Bradley-Bourbonnais head coach Demetrios Kladis is in his first year in the role after coaching at the JV level for the program’s first two years.

The Boilermakers still have their All-City finale against Bishop McNamara on May 1, and although the title won’t be on the line, he said he’s excited for the two teams to meet for the first time on the volleyball court.

“I’m hoping the get the stands packed and really have that energy,” he said. “I’m not from the area, and being here you really see these [All-City] games matter more than any other game on the schedule.”

Bradley-Bourbonnais will host the Boiler Invite over the weekend, where they will get another shot at Kankakee and prime themselves for the start of SouthWest Suburban Conference play at the end of the month.

Kladis said that as the season continues to ramp up, he’s been seeing the kind of culture he’s trying to build with the program start to take shape.

“We really need to be a scrappy team if we want to win, and the kids are going out there and fighting,” he said. “We’re building up our confidence right now, and hopefully by the time we get to conference play we’ll have a lot more things figured out. But I really think we’re starting to get that identity of a hard-working program.”