2024 Northwest Herald Girls Volleyball Coach of the Year: Richmond-Burton’s Mike Kamholz

Richmond-Burton’s end goal – as for most teams with big aspirations and the firepower to match – was reaching the Class 2A state tournament.

While the Rockets came up short of that, ending their season with a three-set loss to IC Catholic in the sectional semifinals, it’s hard to deny the remarkable season they had.

From the start, R-B showed what a special season it was going to be. The Rockets won their first 19 matches without dropping a set and ended the season with the second most wins in program history.

Led by four-year varsity players Elissa Furlan (Division I Wright State commit) and Alex Hopp (D-III Wisconsin-Oshkosh), R-B finished an area-best 36-2, winning 74 of 79 sets.

The Rockets won their second consecutive Kishwaukee River Conference with a perfect 14-0 record and won their first regional championship since 2015.

Leading R-B to one of its best seasons ever was fifth-year coach Mike Kamholz, who was voted the 2024 Northwest Herald Girls Volleyball Coach of the Year by the sports staff with input from area coaches.

Richmond-Burton’s 36 wins were its most since the 2012 team finished 37-5 and placed second at the 3A state tournament. Kamholz surpassed 100 career wins at R-B this year and is now 118-44 over five years.

Kamholz recently talked to Northwest Herald sports editor Alex Kantecki about his team’s standout record, his biggest fear, “Weird Al” and more.

What are you most proud about from this season?

Kamholz: There’s a lot. I think it would have to be the way the girls were able to keep focused and stay true to what we wanted to do all year. And I think that showed itself the most after our first loss to Burlington Central. We won our next match, and we were able to bounce back and beat them two more times. I think that’s probably what I’m most proud about – just the way we were resilient and kept bouncing back. If something didn’t go our way, the girls stepped up and kept fighting through it.

What is your biggest fear?

Kamholz: My biggest fear in general is bees. I will run away, even to this day. I don’t know what it is. I’ve always hated needles, and bees have stingers, so maybe that’s it.

How did you get into coaching volleyball?

Kamholz: Volleyball is a sport I’ve always loved. I went to private schools for grade school and high school, and there was no high school volleyball for boys. But I just always loved it. I was in competitive rec leagues and I’d jump at any chance of an opportunity to play it. We were in the backyard, on the beach, wherever. It’s a nice mix of strategy and power. At some point, I decided teaching is what I wanted to do. I was a teacher assistant at Woodlawn Middle School in Long Grove, and they needed a coach for their seventh grade team. I was all over it. 1999 is when it all kicked off for me. I connected well with the kids and got to share my love of volleyball with them.

What is something you would change about high school volleyball?

Kamholz: At least in Illinois, I would like to see varsity play best of five [sets]. If they are going to play in college, they’ll be playing best of five. So I think that’s something that would prep the girls better.

What is your most prized possession?

Kamholz: I would have to say it’s the first volleyball that all my kids signed from one of my first years of coaching. Like I said, I coach for the kids. When people take the time to show the same appreciation back, it means a lot. So that first ball is pretty cool. It’s still sitting in a nice little case.

What’s the best piece of coaching advice you’ve ever received?

Kamholz: Connect with the kids. When it comes down to it, that’s what’s most important. You could have an amazing technical coach who knows everything and is perfect, but if you don’t have that connection, you don’t really build any relationships. I think that connection is big. I think a lot of times people miss that.

What is something most people don’t know about you?

Kamholz: I’m a huge “Weird Al” fan. He was at Ravinia two years ago and he’s coming back this year. It may be his last one, so I’m definitely buying a ticket.

Which player on your team made you laugh the most?

Kamholz: I would have to say Reagan Wisniewski. She’s got jokes and stuff like that, but just the way she does things sometimes. If there’s a spot of water on the floor, she’s gonna find it. She’s gonna slip in it and fall in a very dramatic way.

Your team had three sets of sisters and one set of cousins. What was that like?

Kamholz: It was definitely a blessing. There was never that sister fight you may expect. Those disagreements, which we know happen between sisters, you never really saw that. It was more like, ‘That’s my sister. That’s my best friend.'

What were your two seniors' (Elissa Furlan and Alex Hopp) biggest strengths?

Kamholz: I’ve known Elissa and Alex for the past four years, and we’ve been working together to getting to this point. Obviously state is the end goal, but to have a season like we did where Richmond volleyball is really respected and people want to come watch you every night, it’s really exciting. And those two have been a giant part of it.

Alex, as the setter, is the quarterback. She directs it all. And if you know anything about volleyball, setters also take some of the most grief from everyone, including coaches, because they’re either performing well or they’re off or not making the right choices. The setter has to be able to take that and kind of let it roll off them and just get back to the game. Alex did an amazing job with that. She was very stoic. It didn’t matter what was coming her way. You never really saw her frazzled this year. She stayed the course with her emotions and kept the team calm and led us to a lot of victories.

Elissa is just a very dynamic player. She’s physically dynamic and she’s vocally dynamic. When Elissa speaks, the team listens. When we’re struggling or we’re down a bunch of points, Elissa steps in and says, ‘Hey, we’re doing this. We’re not going to let this happen.' And just performance wise, if you really needed a pass, you know Elissa is going to make sure it happens. Or if we need a ball put down, Elissa is going to make sure it happens. She took on that role several times. We’re going to miss both of them tremendously.