Junior setter Gianfranco Crancich and his Riverside Brookfield High School boys volleyball teammates needed a strong effort against rival Glenbard East April 21. The Bulldogs responded with their greatest so far this season.
“I think we all just had a phenomenal game and everybody put something into it,” Crancich said.
Those somethings added up to a 25-21, 25-13 victory and a key step toward repeating as Upstate Eight Conference East Division champions. Leading the Bulldogs (8-10, 3-0 in UEC East) were juniors Michael Austin (8 kills, 5 digs, 9 service receptions, 2 total blocks), Crancich (10 assists) and Mateo Garcia (3 aces), seniors John Bielobradek (4 kills, 4 digs, 13 service receptions) and Noah Beals (4 digs), Quinn Shipley (3 kills) and Santiago Medellin (6 assists) and sophomore Aidan Darrah (5 kills, 3 blocks).
Last year, RBHS shared the UEC East title with Glenbard East and West Chicago at 5-1 with its loss coming to the Rams.
“As a team we really collaborated, played well, especially our passers played a phenomenal game,” Crancich said. “Our hitters played a phenomenal game with zero errors. We were strong from the service line.”
Just how good? Offensively, the Bulldogs had a .283 attack percentage with 22 kills and just five attack errors. They had five aces in 49 service attempts with no errors. Defensively, they had just one error in 29 service receptions and 24 successful digs out of 30 attempts.
“We played very well, probably the best entire match we played all year,” RBHS coach Dan Bonarigo said. “We were playing good defense, extending rallies. We hit almost .300 as a team. That’s amazing (against strong opponents). We did not miss a serve.”
The Bulldogs saw some positives the previous night but lost to Downers Grove North 25-20, 25-23.
“We still played really well. A couple of things just didn’t go our way,” Austin said.
The Rams (13-8, 1-1 in UEC East) entered the match with only two losses to 2025 state runners-up Glenbard West and regional semifinalist St. Francis. The key momentum swing was the Bulldogs’ eight-point run in the first set that turned a 17-13 deficit into a 21-13 advantage.
“(Winning) was an absolute blast. We were all having a jolly old time out there,” Austin said. “We felt like underdogs going into that game and we just smacked them down. That’s our top priority right now. We really want to win conference.”
The Bulldogs are going for their fourth straight outright or shared conference titles – the only ones in program history. Thanks to their 21-25, 25-11, 25-18 comeback victory, April 14, at West Chicago (8-12, 1-1), every other team has at least one conference loss.
A part-time varsity player last year, Austin leads in kills (127), digs (97) and service receptions (179). Returning starter Crancich has a team-high 190 assists and 16 aces. He praised Medellin (131 assists) with his new role in the two-setter offense and right-side hitter Darrah, who was on last year’s freshman team.
“We want (conference) bad. This year we’re willing to take it all,” Crancich said. “We definitely miss some of our (graduated) seniors but Santiago has stepped into the job perfect.”
Track and field
Lyons Township senior Tyler Gantt and junior Joey Bockwell took big strides Saturday toward returning to the Class 3A boys track and field state meet. Gantt ran a personal-best 4:17.81 for 1,600 meters in taking 10th in his 1-mile section (4:19.33) at Distance Night in Palatine. Gantt’s two-second personal best further beat the 3A state-qualifying standard of 4:21.72 at sectionals for an automatic state berth.
“I think (the reason) was everything – the weather, the competition. I was so confident going into that, a great race (for me),” said Gantt, the lone returnee from last year’s state 4 x 800 lineup.
“I missed (state) during cross country. I need to individually qualify in (the 1,600). That would be the capstone of my high school career.”
Earlier Saturday at Kaneland’s Peterson Invitational, Bockwell was second in discus with 164 feet-6 inches, the No. 3 distance in LTHS history and beyond the 47.57 meters/156-1 state-qualifying standard. The LTHS school record is 172-2 by Brian Treski in 1987.
In 2025, Bockwell qualified for state in shot put (15.82m/51-11 qualifying standard). Bockwell improved that personal best to 16.71m/54-10 with a second-place finish at the Minooka Invite April 18. Gantt (4:30.72) and sophomore Brennan Monohan (4:32.37) went 1-2 in an extremely windy 1,600.
Also at Palatine, RBHS senior Rebecca Dosek ran a lifetime-best 2:21.92 in the 800.
Competing in 2-mile sections were Nazareth senior Daniel Lewis of Brookfield (9:49.93/9:46.57 for 3,200), LTHS senior Mya Coglianese (11:46.80/11:43.05 for 3,200) and Monohan (9:52.86/9:49.05 for 3,200). LTHS sophomore Luke Rowen was 11th in the Special Olympics boys 800 (3:40.25).