In the offseason, Nazareth girls volleyball coach Esai Velez met with his team to discuss several topics.

After the Roadrunners finished with a 3-31 record last season, Velez inquired about the job without much knowledge about the program.

“I’m basically not from the area,” Velez said. “I was born and raised in Puerto Rico, but I did know a couple things about the program, mainly from a club owner I knew well. Also, I live in LaGrange Park, so I know how big the football program is. Most of my neighbors go to Nazareth.

“The little things I knew were that Nazareth was a very respected school, but besides a few things people told me about the volleyball program, I didn’t know much.”

So, Velez set out in the initial meeting to talk in-depth with his returning players and newcomers to try and find a plan to turn the program around after a dismal showing last season.

“I was trying to figure out what we can change from last year,” he said. “I kind of got their feedback. I’m a teacher, so I need to plan. I wanted to know what didn’t work last year and what I can help or bring. I got suggestions from them and accepted the challenge. I felt they were good kids who wanted to be better. We had everyone on board, we just had to fix a couple of things.”

Mainly, Velez and his players fixed their win-loss record.

The Roadrunners (21-17) are one of the most unlikely stories at this weekend’s state volleyball tournament in Normal. Nazareth defeated Fenwick in two sets in Monday’s Class 3A De La Salle Supersectional to seal the program’s fourth trip to state in the last six years.

The Roadrunners have a tough state semifinal opener against Providence (34-6) at 4 p.m. on Friday, with the winner set to play Normal U-High (36-4) or Prairie Ridge (32-7) in the 3A final on Saturday.

Rightfully so, the Roadrunners are the Cinderella story in Normal this weekend, but the Roadrunners are no pushover.

Velez said his players made tiny steps early in the season against a heavy 4A schedule, opening the season with losses to St. Laurence, Mother McAuley, Lockport, Bolingbrook and Plainfield North.

“At the beginning of the season, I could see how hard they worked and that the culture was good,” Velez said. “Things started to click when we were not getting beat by a lot, even though we had a tough start at 0-5, we played all 4A teams. I thought they could do better. They had the tools, but more like they needed help how to use the tools to beat teams.”

Slowly throughout the season, Velez said he would get positive feedback from opposing coaches who noticed the team was improving from the start of the campaign. He called the sectional semifinal win over Timothy Christian a key moment for his players.

“The practices before the Timothy Christian (game), I could tell they were taking everything seriously and wanted to go to state,” Velez said. I was like ‘they got it.’”

In a full circle moment, Nazareth senior outside hitter Beth Surowiec is experiencing state again this weekend.

She was a freshman on the 2022 team which lost to St. Francis in the 3A state title game. The Roadrunners, who captured the state title in 2021, had never made a state appearance in program history until 2019.

“Beth is a captain who brings a lot of leadership, kindness and grit which helped us go back to state,” Velez said. “Senior Jane Manecke also brings leadership and knows how to win. Sophomore libero Tess Tortorello plays every set.

“We don’t have a superstar. We will have a tough game on Friday. We have to try and play a simple game, not make errors. We have a great opponent. Their pins are great players.

“We’ve been getting a lot of attention after finishing 3-31 last year and now got 20 wins. They’ve been working well and keeping us underdogs. It’s a miracle we made it all the way to state.”

In Class 4A, Benet (38-2) is back in the state semifinals for the fourth straight year and 11th time since 2008.

The Redwings are chasing their fifth state championship, first since 2019. Benet has finished as state runner-up for the past three seasons, second to Marist last year.

Benet plays Lockport (33-7) in the first 4A semifinal Friday with Marist (34-5) facing Fremd (29-8) in the second game. Lockport, third in the state last year, handed Benet its only loss to an in-state opponent this year, back on Aug. 30.

Benet is led by four-year varsity starting middle and Wisconsin recruit Lynney Tarnow, Maryland-bound outside Brooklynne Brass and setter Ellie Stiernagle, a Northwestern recruit.

“I’m starving for it,” Tarnow said of a state title. “I’ve been so close, and of course I want it so bad. It’s my senior year, I have nothing to lose. I’m going to do whatever I can to get back down there. But one day at a time.”