In his debut as a right-side hitter, Sandburg junior JT Snider showed he has the right stuff.
But no matter what position he plays, the best could still be on the horizon.
“He’s like one of those baby giraffes when they are tall and they are young still,” Eagles coach David Vales said of the 6-foot-6 Snider. “Eventually their muscles are going to catch up to them.
“He’s still growing. You are going to see some dynamite things from him. The sky is the limit for him not only for the end of this season but next year as a senior.”
Vales, who usually slots in Snider at an outside hitter position, shuffled the deck Wednesday.
Snider responded by dominating with 10 kills, including nine in the first game, to power host Sandburg to a 27-25, 25-15 nonconference win over Oak Lawn in Orland Park.
Fellow junior right-side hitter Jeremiah Aro added seven kills and two blocks for the Eagles (11-6), while Will Ashum had five kills and four blocks. Myles Aquino came up with 11 digs.
Connor Lewis contributed five kills for Oak Lawn (15-13). Marco Budzak tallied 13 assists and three digs, while Oisin Walsh had three kills and three digs.
Snider’s switch was an experiment, but Vales liked the results.
“We just needed to shake it up,” Vales said. “Sometimes, you get stuck playing the same position at the same side. Switching the pins helped him see the game from a different angle.
“That will hopefully make his outside play better. He did petition himself to be a right side now.”
Sandburg’s Myles Aquino leapfrogs over teammate Aaron Dennie during the pregame introductions before a nonconference match against Oak Lawn in Orland Park on Wednesday, April 17, 2024. (Jeff Vorva / Daily Southtown)
Vales would prefer to have Snider and Aro, who recently made an unofficial visit to Princeton, on the court at the same time. Still, Vales didn’t mind seeing the 17-kill production against Oak Lawn.
Aro was impressed with his teammate’s performance in the new spot.
“I think he did great — he did amazing,” Aro said. “He might be better than me, to be honest.”
Snider said he has played the right side, also known as the opposite side, a few times before in practice so it wasn’t completely foreign to him.
Time will tell which position he plays in the future but he’s ready to go where needed.
“It doesn’t make any difference where I play,” Snider said. “As long as I’m hitting the ball, I’m fine with it.”
Oak Lawn’s Simon Komperda, left, tries to hit through Sandburg’s block during a nonconference match in Orland Park on Wednesday, April 17, 2024. (Jeff Vorva / Daily Southtown)
Sandburg has a strong junior class, and Snider’s capability to dominate is a good sign. No matter where Vales puts him in the future, Snider will be in a position to make the team even stronger.
“When he’s been playing the outside, he’s been consistent,” Vales said of Snider. “He knows how to hit in the back row and he’s a big blocker in the front row. He’s got it all.”
Snider comes from a volleyball family. His mother, whose maiden name is Kelli Turyna, played at Bremen.
His brother, Avery Verble, played volleyball at Lincoln-Way North and Sandburg. He was a right-side hitter for the Eagles on the 2016 team that finished third in the state. That was the last time Sandburg qualified for the state finals. Verble want on to play club at Western Michigan.
Snider said his mother had an influence on him playing volleyball.
“I played baseball,” he said. “She made me choose volleyball, and it’s been fun. She played when she was young, too and she always loved it.”
It’s a sport Snider said he has grown to love, too.
“I love the energy of the sport,” he said. “And I love spiking the ball. It’s my favorite thing.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
