Year three is in the books for the North Central men’s volleyball team: new heights have been reached, and it seems the ceiling is nowhere in sight.
The team just completed its most successful year, posting an 18-7 overall record while achieving an undefeated season in conference. Head coach Kyle Exline sees even more accomplishments for the future.
“Our first goal was to host the conference tournament, so check that off the list. Our second goal is to win the conference tournament to enter the NCAA tournament mixed with the third goal which is winning the national championship.” Coach Exline says.
The team is on the right track to reach the goal as they have several teammates returning, such as Brandon Crawford, ’20, who just received All-America honors along with Nick Lilley, ’20, who led the team in kills (205) and service aces (24). They also have incoming freshmen that look to develop and make a big impact in the next few years as they will be senior heavy for the incoming season.
“Jake Braceros is graduating, and we get his little brother and then we have four other guys that we think will be able to compete,” Exline said.
Finding talent and success is not an easy road, especially with the growing pains of the first two years. Coach Exline has worked to develop a culture filled with work ethic and camaraderie while learning from the many successful programs at North Central.
“We wanted to mimic every championship-caliber program that we have here,” Exline said. “We pulled philosophies from Coach (Al) Carius and Coach (Jeff) Thorne and we were able to recruit the right guys for that job,” Exline says.
Exline will enter next season as reigning MLVC coach of the year with an eager team ready to finish what they started.
