Girls volleyball: Bolingbrook’s Madison Shroba named Herald-News Player of the Year

After winning the program’s first regional title last season, the Bolingbrook girls volleyball team had its sights set high entering this season.

Returning players such as outside hitters Madison Shroba and Cydney Anderson and setter/right-side Sarah Harvey gave the Raiders good reason to be optimistic.

The trio came through, none more so than Shroba, who led the Raiders with 356 kills on a .389 hitting percentage to go with 63 aces, 182 digs and 14 blocks. Along the way, Bolingbrook posted its first South Suburban Conference Blue Division championship, set a school record with 32 wins and won a second consecutive regional championship.

For her efforts, Shroba earns the 2022 Herald-News Girls Volleyball Player of the Year honor.

“We had a fun season,” Shroba said. “It ended sooner than we had hoped [the Raiders lost to Joliet West in the Class 4A Lockport Sectional semifinals], but we still did a lot of the things we had hoped.

“Getting the school record for wins was very important to us. We set short-term goals, mid-term goals and long-term goals. That way, we could keep focused every day. Like, we wanted to get to the 25 wins [the previous school record], but we couldn’t get there without winning the first match, then the second. That kept us focused.”

Shroba came to volleyball at a young age, as she started playing in-house ball at the age of 8. She grew to love the sport from that point.

“My older sister [Brittany] played volleyball through high school, and I went to most of her matches,” Shroba said. “My mom [Jennifer] was my coach from third through eighth grade, and my other sister [Lauren] was only two years ahead of me in school. We would always go out and play together, and we got to play together one year in high school, when Lauren was a senior and I was a sophomore.

“I just continued to play it and got better at it, so I wanted to keep going.”

Shroba was more than just a hitter for the Raiders, as she was a full-rotation player and rarely came off the court. She wouldn’t have had it any other way.

“I really like the team aspect of volleyball,” she said. “The success comes from your teammates. As a hitter, if the defenders don’t make a good pass and the setter doesn’t make a good set, I can’t do anything. Everyone has to contribute in order for everyone to have success. Also, it’s a sport where everyone has to know how to do everything.

“I like playing all the positions on the court. You get to see all different sides of the game. You can see what the defense has to do, what the players in the front row have to do. And staying on the court kept me mentally in the game and focused.”

Shroba’s coach, Molly DeSerf, had nothing but praise for Shroba.

“Madison is the full package – a great athlete, humble leader and an incredible teammate,” DeSerf said. “Throughout the course of her four years at Bolingbrook, she was an integral part of shifting the culture of our program. Madison understood early the importance of work ethic and what it took to compete at the level that we wanted to.

“The success we had this season was not by chance. Madison and her teammates have been working toward this level of play since they entered as freshman. As a coach, I am constantly humbled by her ability to take all that she does seriously without taking herself too seriously. Madison enjoys the process, she enjoys practice and growing in the game, she enjoys her teammates and all the sport has to offer.

“We are excited to see what she does at the collegiate level and grateful for the impact she has made and what it means to be a part of Bolingbrook volleyball.”

In a season that contained 32 victories against only four losses, it might be difficult to single out one or two matches. Not for Shroba.

“One that really stands out is the match against Lincoln-Way East for the conference championship,” she said. “East has always been a big rival for us, but this wasn’t just a conference game, it was for the conference title. We had never won a conference title before, and we had worked all season for that. We really put it all out there that night. Everyone knew what their role was, and everyone played really well.

“Another one was against East Aurora. It wasn’t a conference match, but it was to break the school win record. Everyone on the team got to get on the court and contribute and be a part of school history. It was great that the girls that didn’t play much were able to get in there and be a part of that. They work just as hard as anyone in practice, and they are making us fight to keep our starting jobs.”

Shroba will continue her education and volleyball career at Lewis University, just down the road from Bolingbrook in Romeoville.

“It’s kind of bittersweet,” Shroba said about moving on. “I am sad to be leaving my high school teammates, but I am excited for the opportunity that’s ahead of me. Lewis is a high Division II college, so the competition is going to be great. It’s totally different than high school.

“I am used to that kind of competition from playing club [First Alliance in La Grange], so it is going to be fun. I just want to go out there and play wherever I can help the team. It’s also nice that I am close to home. I am going to stay on campus, because I will spend a lot of time with volleyball, and I also want the full college experience. But it’s nice that I can come home whenever I want, because it’s so close.

“And my family will be able to come see me a lot. They have it all planned out.”