Boys volleyball: Connor Jaral of Lincoln-Way West named Herald-News Player of the Year

If you need to find Connor Jaral, the best bet would be to find the nearest volleyball court.

The Lincoln-Way West senior finds several ways to be around the game. All of that time and effort spent on the sand or a hard court helped him lead the Warriors to the IHSA state finals for the first time since 2018.

Jaral led the Warriors to a 32-8 record with 342 kills, was second with 45 blocks and had 139 digs. For his efforts, Jaral has been selected as the Herald-News Boys Volleyball Player of the Year.

Even his high school coach, Jodi Frigo, is impressed with Jaral’s commitment to the game.

“Connor Jaral is a true die-hard volleyball player having an extreme dedication to the sport,” Frigo said. “He just absolutely loves everything about volleyball. He would finish practice, then go hit the sand courts to play some more.

“Then, even when done playing, he was always on his phone watching college or Olympic volleyball matches or even different opponents’ film. He would then go and coach younger players on a club team and even ref.”

Frigo isn’t exaggerating.

“I would say ‘volleyball junkie’ is a good way to describe me,” said Jaral, a 6-foor-4 outside hitter who will continue his career at Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa. “I always want to be around the game. It depends on the day, but there is always something involving volleyball. The other day, I had club practice and then played sand volleyball in the morning. The next day, I worked at a youth camp for Ultimate Volleyball for five hours.

“Playing sand volleyball really helps my training. It’s so satisfying to go back into the gym after playing in the sand and being able to jump higher. It sharpens all of your athletic abilities. It helps you be quicker, it helps your cardio, it makes you think more, everything.”

Both of Jaral’s parents – Steve and Janelle – were volleyball players in their younger days.

“My mom and dad have been huge supporters of mine,” Jaral said. “Sometimes, when me and my friends are done for the day, we will go out in my back yard and play, and my parents will come out and play with us.

“It’s usually me and [Lincoln-Way West setter] Noah [Konopek] that are together. We are in a six-man sand league for the summer, but I really like playing with two or three guys on each side. I like to touch the ball as often as I can, and I get to touch it more if there are fewer people out there.”

During the season, Jaral played the full six rotations, rarely coming off the court. He was able to use the experience gained from his time around the game to be the player his team relied on at crunch time.

“Connor is a great choice for a player of the year selection,” Frigo said. “He was definitely our key contributor throughout the year and definitely in the postseason to help us win those key points in the third sets of the sectional matches to get us to advance to the Elite Eight and become state qualifiers.

“Connor is a three-year varsity athlete. He always had the skill and athleticism to be a great starting outside hitter, even as a sophomore. What changed was over the years was his confidence grew more and more, where he believed that he actually belonged on the court and he wanted to be that go-to hitter at key moments of the game.

“Before that, he seemed to be OK helping his team while looking up to those older players and respected them enough that he thought they should get the ball more. But, as a senior, the team voted him captain and he took on more of a leadership role where the younger players looked up to him to get the job done and followed his lead for getting excited during matches and focused to win.”

It has been a bit of a journey for Jaral, who did not play volleyball in middle school even though the school he attended offered it. Once he started, however, there was no stopping him.

“I joined club volleyball the summer before my freshman year,” he said. “That was when I really gained a love for the sport. I was able to take that into high school. Noah and I were on the same club team, and four other guys on our team were on other club teams, so we would see them all the time and go and play in the sand with them. It helped us bond well as a team, and we were a pretty tight group by the time the high school season came around.

“I am not one of those leaders that gets in other players’ faces. I prefer to lead by example. Like, when we ran sprints, I wanted to be out there ahead of everyone, showing them what was expected of them. That is what the players that came before me did for me, and it helped. They set an example for me, and I wanted to set an example for the younger guys in the program so the program keeps going.”