Northern Kentucky-bound Devlin Biggs makes huge plays as Marist rolls past Mount Carmel. ‘Variety and versatility.'
He doesn't ease up on anyone, according to teammate Nathen Toth.
'He's a very physical player,' Toth said of Biggs. 'It's great to have him on our side.
'If you go up against him in practice, he'll make your forearms hurt a little bit.'
Biggs, Toth and the rest of the defending state champion RedHawks have been putting a big hurt on all of their opponents during the postseason.
That includes Tuesday's 25-9, 25-13 win over Mount Carmel in the De La Salle Sectional final in Chicago. It's the seventh sectional title for Marist, which is seeking its fifth state championship.
The MIT-bound Toth tallied 10 kills, three aces and five dig for Marist (36-2). Biggs added seven kills, while Griffin McElroy chipped in with five kills and two blocks.
Rorey Donnelly made eight digs and Jacob Finley totaled 15 assists against the Caravan (17-11).
Biggs, for one, has been a bright spot all season long for the RedHawks.
'He was really excited to step into a bigger role this year,' Marist coach Jordan Vidovic said. 'All things considered, he's just another perfect example of the senior class, how they go about it every day during the season and how they try to get better even when things are going well.
'And he's added a lot. He has more than just a power game. He's added variety and versatility, and that's big for us.'
Marist takes on Lake Park (28-11) at 1 p.m. Friday in the state quarterfinals at Hoffman Estates. The Lancers beat Hersey 23-25, 25-17, 25-13 to win the Schaumburg Sectional.
Biggs, a Northern Kentucky recruit, never imagined he would be a 6-foot-3 force for Marist, ranked second in the nation by the USA Today/American Volleyball Coaches Association.
He was a 5-3 libero in seventh grade and wasn't really living up to his last name. But by the time he was a freshman, he grew to 6-1 and added two more inches after that.
The progress is all recorded in pencil on a kitchen wall at his house.
'I had a massive growth spurt and after that, I started taking volleyball seriously,' Biggs said. 'I put in hours and hours of practice. I knew I was going to grow, but I didn't think I would be this tall.'
While Biggs was getting some playing time here and there the last two seasons, he's really making his mark this spring as a senior.
'This is his first taste of being a high-impact option,' Vidovic said. 'He's really excited about the game aspect.'
Biggs will have an interesting challenge ahead in college.
Northern Kentucky will play its first season in 2026 under coach Jim Palilonis, who played on Marist's first team in 1992 and coached at St. Rita. Palilonis took an interest in Biggs early on.
'I've known him since seventh or eighth grade,' Briggs said of Palilonis. 'He coached at Purdue Fort Wayne and he recruited me for there.
'Then he ended up switching to Northern Kentucky and he recruited me there. It's brand-new team and he's bringing in five guys from Illinois.'
That list includes Lincoln-Way West's Drew Kregul.
No matter what happens this weekend, however, Briggs' high school career will be coming to an end. He said he will miss his teammates.
'The 10 seniors are 10 of my best friends,' Biggs said. 'Outside of volleyball, we're hanging out all of the time. They make practices so fun.
'This season is so sick. Playing with this team is so much fun, and we've been able to have fun and still be serious.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
8 hours ago
- New York Post
Delta flight frantically halts takeoff as another plane almost lands on top of it in heart-pounding scene
A US-bound Delta flight with at least 150 people onboard was forced to hit the brakes during takeoff in Mexico this week when another jet nearly landed on top of it. Delta Flight 590 had just started rolling down the runway at Aeropuerto Internacional Benito Juárez in Mexico City on Monday when the regional AeroMéxico plane suddenly flew overhead and landed in front of it, Flightradar 24 data showed. 3 An AeroMéxico plane nearly landed on top of a Delta Air Lines 737 as it was taking off this week. FlightRadar24 The regional jet came within less than 200 feet of the Atlanta-bound Delta flight, CNN reported. The Delta pilots quickly aborted takeoff and returned to the terminal in the wake of the near collision. 'Delta will fully cooperate with authorities as the circumstances around this flight are investigated,' the airline said in a statement. 3 The AeroMéxico plane came within 200 feet of Delta's Boeing 737. AFP via Getty Images 3 The incident is currently under investigation. AFP via Getty Images 'We appreciate the flight crew's actions to maintain situational awareness and act quickly – part of Delta's extensive training.' AeroMéxico and the Mexican civil aviation authority haven't yet commented on the ordeal. The Delta flight, which was carrying 150 passengers and crew, ended up taking off again several hours later.
a day ago
Delta and Aeromexico jets nearly collide at Mexico City airport
An Aeromexico plane nearly collided with a Delta Air Lines plane while landing in Mexico City on Monday. FlightRadar24 data shows Aeromexico Flight 1631 flew over Delta Flight 590 on runway 5R at Mexico's Benito Juarez International Airport before proceeding to land ahead of it on the same runway. The two aircraft were just 200 feet apart, according to data from FlightRadar24. Delta Air Lines said the Atlanta-bound flight with 150 people onboard was on its takeoff roll when the crew aborted after observing "another aircraft landing in front of their aircraft on the same runway." In air traffic control recordings, the Delta pilot can be heard saying, "We are holding on the runway" followed by someone saying, "Wow" and "Increíble." (Spanish for "incredible.") It is unclear if that was said by a nearby pilot or a controller. The Delta plane had reached a speed of approximately 60 miles per hour before it stopped. The Delta jet returned to its gate before finally departing to its destination later that morning. "There are parallel runways at Mexico City. So we don't know if the controller told the Aeromexico aircraft to land on the left-hand and not the right-hand runway where the Delta jet was," said Steve Ganyard, an ABC News aviation contributor and former fighter pilot. "We also don't know, perhaps the tower controller didn't understand that they had cleared the Aeromexico aircraft to land while simultaneously clearing the Delta jet to take off." In a statement to ABC, Delta said, "Because nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and people, Delta will fully cooperate with authorities as the circumstances around this flight are investigated. We appreciate the flight crew's actions to maintain situational awareness and act quickly – part of Delta's extensive training." Aeromexico said the airline is working closely with the authorities as they conduct a detailed investigation of the incident. "At Aeromexico, the safety of our customers and employees is, and will always be, our highest priority," the airline said in a statement. As authorities investigate the incident, aviation experts say they will consider whether there was a communication failure. "It seems pretty clear that there was a failure to communicate, either with the tower controllers clearing it to aircraft for takeoff at the same time they cleared one to land, or perhaps they weren't clear with a landing aircraft which runway -- left or right -- it should have been landing on," said Ganyard. "But somewhere it was a failure to communicate."
USA Today
2 days ago
- USA Today
We hit 48 in our Raiders countdown to kickoff. Who wore it best and who's wearing it now
We've reached 48 days until the Raiders season opener at Foxboro against the Patriots, With our countdown at 48 days we take a look at who currently dons the number in Silver & Black and who has brought it the most distinction. No. 48 Who's wearing it now: No one Who wore it best: CB Lionel Washington Washington spent nine of his 15-year NFL career with the Raiders. After four years in St Louis, Washington left the Phoenix-bound Cardinals, to come to Los Angeles to join the Raiders. After eight years, he played a couple seasons in Denver, before playing his final NFL season with the Raiders in Oakland. Washington appeared in 122 games with the Raiders with 99 starts and recorded 19 of his career 37 interceptions as a Raider. His three career defensive TDs is tied with Charles Woodson for ninth most in Raiders franchise history. Two of those TDs came in 1989, which is tied for the fourth most in a single-season in franchise history.
