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Chicago Tribune
18-06-2025
- Sport
- Chicago Tribune
Marist's Christian Teresi is the 2025 Daily Southtown Boys Volleyball Player of the Year: ‘An exciting future.'
Christian Teresi opened his varsity career making a couple of double hits on set attempts in his first match for Marist. He ended his career by doubling his number of state championships. In between, the Ohio State-bound senior setter/right-side hitter created a stellar career that wasn't going to be defined by those early mistakes all the way back in 2022 against Sandburg. 'Obviously, you make errors,' Teresi said. 'You get past it and you think about the next play.' Teresi, the 2025 Daily Southtown Player of the Year, had a lot of 'next plays' to think about as he helped the RedHawks (39-2) roll along in winning their second straight state championship. A three-time player of the year, Teresi stayed busy with 359 kills, 638 assists, 212 digs, 86 blocks and 28 aces for Marist, which became just the second team from the Southland to repeat as state champs in boys volleyball. Sandburg accomplished the feat in 1999 and 2000. For his career, Teresi rang up 902 kills, 725 digs, 302 blocks and 132 aces. His 3,258 assists rank him third in the Illinois High School Association record book. Second on that list is Jordan Vidovic, a star setter for Brother Rice from 2002 to 2005. Vidovic was Teresi's coach the past four seasons at Marist. 'It's been a hell of a ride,' Vidovic said. 'I've known him since he was in second or third grade when he came to a summer camp and I've seen him grow. I've had a high standard for him. 'He grew as a person and he grew in a lot of other ways.' Vidovic, who has coached the boys since 2015 at Marist, never had a freshman start the season on the varsity until Teresi walked through the doors. Teresi confirmed he was nervous for his first match, but despite the rough beginning, he finished with 35 assists in a 23-25, 25-12, 25-13 victory over the host Eagles in Orland Park. Over the years, Teresi has had a number of incredible matches, but when he added hitting to his game during his sophomore season, he came through with a triple-double of 10 kills, 10 digs and 32 assists against Hinsdale Central. Even though Vidovic saw a lot of terrific things from Teresi on the court in his first three years, he still wanted a little more this season. 'This year was about the leadership side and forgetting about recognition,' Vidovic said. 'I liked that he soaked up one of the best experiences that he will ever have. He has an exciting future. 'But it will never be like this. This year was about enjoying the season with his teammates and how to make them better — how to be remembered as a player in our program.' Jacob Finley, who shared the setting duties for Marist, saw Teresi as a teacher one minute and then as a player he absolutely had to connect with the next minute. 'He's a great leader,' Finley said of Teresi. 'He's helped me in practice and in games. It's a lot of working together.' After Marist won the state championship by beating Glenbard West 25-20, 25-20 in Hoffman Estates, Teresi took a few seconds for a big hug with his father, Marty. It was a nice moment because when Christian's older brother, Colin, was playing club at the 12U level, Marty would take Christian off to the side and pepper with him. Soon, one of Colin's coaches called Christian over to practice with the older players. It was the start of what turned out to be an outstanding career. 'My dad would take me to the side and taught me how to play volleyball,' Christian said. 'He's the one who pushed me and he's the one who made me humble.'
Chicago Tribune
08-06-2025
- Sport
- Chicago Tribune
The best ever? Ohio State recruit Christian Teresi and Marist make case with state championship. ‘It's awesome.'
Marist's Christian Teresi wasn't going to argue with his coach. Jordan Vidovic proclaimed that the RedHawks are the best team in Illinois to ever play the sport. After they won their second straight state title, the Ohio State-bound Teresi quickly agreed. 'Of course I want to stay humble,' Teresi said. 'But I'm going to agree with him 100% on that. We went to California and beat the No. 1 team in the nation (Mira Costa). 'I feel like that was a big accomplishment for an Illinois high school. And now we won the state championship again. It's awesome.' Teresi continued his role as an awesome do-it-all player Saturday. The senior setter/right-side hitter produced 14 kills on a .619 hitting percentage to lead Marist to a 25-20, 25-20 victory over Glenbard West in the boys volleyball state championship match at Hoffman Estates. While Teresi added 15 assist and seven digs for the RedHawks (40-2), MIT recruit Nathen Toth tallied 11 kills, Jacob Finley notched 18 assists and Rorey Donnelly delivered 11 digs. Charlie Clifford led the Hilltoppers (36-6) with eight kills in a match that featured 21 ties and four lead changes. But the several times Marist needed a big play, Teresi usually provided it. 'I was telling Jacob, our setter, to keep setting me because they were not stopping me at all,' Teresi said. 'I was just going on a roll and I wanted to keep getting set. 'These are the games where I really want to stand out. There are a lot of people watching. I know we played Glenbard twice during the season, but we knew coming into this game, this was going to be a brand-new team.' It's the second straight state title in boys volleyball, third overall for the boys and third straight for Vidovic, who won in 2024 with the boys in the spring and then the girls team in the fall. Earlier in the day, Marist beat Lane Tech 25-15, 25-19 in the semifinals. Toth totaled six kills and five aces to lead the RedHawks, while Teresi chipped in with four kills and eight assists. Finley recorded eight assists and Donnelly had seven digs against Lane (35-7). Marist then put an exclamation point on a season in which the RedHawks went 30-0 against Illinois teams and dropped just one set — Friday against Lake Park in the state quarterfinals. That had Vidovic excited about placing this team at the top of the state's history list. 'There is no doubt in my mind because we went out and did it,' he said. 'Everybody else is hypothetical and we went out and played the best of the best. We went toe-to-toe with the most stacked high school volleyball teams … probably ever. 'I've been around some great Illinois teams as a player, as a spectator, as a sibling, as a coach, and I've seen some phenomenal teams, but the way the game is played right now, the speed and the way the ball is travelling, there was nothing like that back then.' Teresi closed a four-year varsity career with one more big match under his belt as a goodbye. 'I've never seen a player as compete as Christian — not at all,' Toth said. 'He can do everything. He's super athletic. He's got a wicked arm swing. I really don't know what this kid can't do. 'I don't know how you can go up there on the block and stop him.' About the only thing Saturday night that could almost stop Teresi was a question about if this year's title felt better than a year ago. It was almost like asking a parent who the favorite child is. 'I don't know … I think this year was more exciting for our team,' Teresi said. 'Well, actually I think last year was more exciting because it was our first one. 'But this was better because of us winning last year.'
