New Mix Hopes To Build On Volleyball Success

The turnaround started last spring when the Evanston boys volleyball team flew under the radar and posted their best record in a decade.

The Wildkits, with a 24-14 overall record, got back on the winning track and recorded their best season since the 2016 squad went 26-12 and won an Illinois High School Association regional tournament championship.

Now head coach Stanley Antoine is working with a new mix of old and new players trying to build momentum back to the point where it was in the early 2000s when current athletic director Chris Livatino was the head coach and 20-win seasons were a regular happening.

Four seniors --- returning starters Stephen Hobbs, Kaloyan Mitchev, Oscar Gutierrez and Diego Dailey --- are expected to show the way on and off the court as Antoine tries to build a winning culture again.

And an unprecedented number of freshmen --- three, to be exact --- are also expected to play significant roles at the varsity level as the Kits try to climb in the Central Suburban League South division standings and make a deep postseason run this time around.

Evanston opened the season over the weekend by winning three of five matches at the Marist Invitational tournament and will play at Niles West Wednesday coming off of the school’s spring break. Antoine was encouraged by the team’s 2025 debut, yet knew when he took over the program from current assistant Mike McDermott five years ago that it would take time to get everyone on the same page.

He, along with Livatino, helped create a mini-feeder program for younger hopefuls in the community and promoted the sport whenever he could in an attempt to build better numbers. In the past, volleyball tryouts usually took place after those of the other spring sports and athletes only picked the indoor sport when they got cut from other sports.

Now that effort is starting to pay dividends.

“We’ve been talking a lot about creating a strong culture so we can continue the success we had last year, and that’s where the four seniors are so important for us,” Antoine said. “We need to create shared goals and that’s not necessarily about just our performance on the court, it’s about who we are off the court, too. That’s what’s driving the effort by the seniors.

“They all feel like they left something on the table even with all of those wins last year and they feel like yes, we should have gone farther in the state tournament. If you asked them, they’d all say they don’t feel satisfied with how the season ended. They want to develop and come together more as a team this year.

“They want more.”

Evanston’s go-to player on offense figures to be one of those seniors, Mirtchev. The 6-foot-4 standout moved to outside hitter last spring --- as a left-handed attacker --- and he’s on the Junior Volleyball Association “watch list” as one of the headliners throughout the state of Illinois.

He’s committed to playing next year at Quincy University, but only after he sparks some postseason success for ETHS.

“He’s a very smart player, a very versatile player, and his father and mother both played volleyball,” Antoine explained. “It was a pretty cool experiment last year, switching a lefty to outside hitter, but he earned that. He’ll be our No. 1 option on offense. He has the maturity and high volleyball IQ to take us a long way as a team.

“But after Ka, we’re still trying to figure out who we are offensively. I think we’ll be pretty good defensively. I’m excited to see what Oscar (Gutierrez) does for us this year. He improved so much from last year, also with his leadership, and you’ll be able to hear him (organizing the next play and encouraging his teammates) at every match.”

The Wildkits will also count on juniors Mohammed Mirzaye, Eric Rosenthal, Thibault Juhnke, Pascal Juhnke and Nikolai Drobyshevsky, plus sophomore Derrick Nelson. Drobyshevsky is a setter who, according to his coach, “shows a lot of promise” and has one of the team’s highest vertical leaps, touching an impressive 10 feet, 11 inches.

And Nelson? “He has the energy and attitude we want from all of our guys,” said Antoine.

Freshmen Nicholas Livatino, son of the ETHS AD, Charlie Frisch and Arad Takloobighash are also suiting up on the varsity team, a first in the program where you’d have to dig deep into the archives to find even one freshman who began the year as a member of the varsity.

But Antoine believes the three rookies are ready even though the jump from junior high to varsity competition is a big one.

“Having all three of them up aligns with the philosophy we’ve always had, that the varsity team should always have the best players in the program,” Antoine pointed out. “If they’re ready to play, and I think they are, I think you get them on the court and get them some experience at this level. These three guys are some of the most competitive guys on our team. They’re really gritty kids, and each one of them will contribute for us this year.

“We have kids who are playing high level volleyball now (in clubs) early on and we have many strong freshmen coming into the program. The sport is becoming cool within the (athletic) community and they’re coming in with the goal of winning multiple state titles. Arad is 6-3 and Charlie is 6-2 and I think they’re physically ready. But their technical skills are the main reason they’re on the varsity. I think they’re ready for the next level of development.”

All three incoming frosh are included on the JVA “watch list” for the Class of 2028. Frisch’s progress, however, has been slowed by a stress fracture in his back.

“I think it’s going to be a fun dynamic,” said Antoine regarding the mix of old and new hopefuls. “We’ve never had this many freshmen who are this hungry and skilled. The older guys are like big brothers to them and they understand that they’re playing for more than themselves. We want the TEAM --- and the school --- to win.”

Evanston stumbled to two losses in pool play Friday at Marist, bowing to both Andrew (27-25, 17-25, 15-13) and Downers Grove North (25-12, 25-14), but came back strong on Saturday to sweep to the championship of the Bronze bracket by defeating Providence (27-25, 25-19), St. Ignatius (25-19, 25-21) and Downers Grove South (20-25, 25-16, 15-12). Mirtchev racked up 10 ace serves in the tourney and Livatino was credited with 28 digs.