North park men’s media guide 2021 Table of Contents

4 ROSTER

5 COACHING STAFF

6 & 7 ADMINISTRATIVE TEAM

8-10 RETURNERS

11 & 12 NEWCOMERS

13 2021 SCHEDULE & 2020 RESULTS

KUDOS Special thanks to Dr. Jeff Nelson and Paige Wilcox, who provide NORTH PARK UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS many of these quality pictures you are viewing within this media 3225 W. Foster Avenue guide and on our website! , IL 60625 2021 Roster Coaching Staff # Name Pos. Ht Wt Yr. Hometown/HS 3rd Season as Head Coach 10-33 OVERALL RECORD 1 Colin Wong L 5-7 140 Gr. Skokie, Ill. / Niles West Head Coach/Director of vb operations FIRST EVER HEAD MEN’S VB COACH AT NPU 3-4 CCIW RECORD 2 Armando Quinones OH 6-3 170 So. San Juan, Puerto Rico / St. Mary’s 3 Kevin Jacob DS 5-10 160 Fr. Des Plaines, Ill. / Maine West Michael Sopocy enters his third year as the head coach of the men’s volleyball program. 4 Walter Berthold DS 5-8 155 Fr. Honoluli, Hawaii Sopocy brings a plethora of experience and variety to North Park. At the collegiate level, 5 Kaleb Patrick DS 5-11 190 Fr. Grayslake, Ill. / Grayslake Central he assisted with Green State’s women’s volleyball program (2003-2004) where he 6 Phillip Duros MB 6-2 180 Sr. Lincolnwood, Ill. / Niles West Michael worked primarily in defensive development. Continuing his coaching within Division 1 8 Alejandro Condoy L/S 5-4 160 So. Guayaquil, Ecuador / Ecomundo athletics, Sopocy was an Assistant Coach at Cleveland State University in 2006. Again, SOPOCY he worked primarily in defensive development, focusing on the liberos and defensive 10 Noah Salazar OH 5-10 150 So. Minneapolis, Minn. / Hopkins specialists. 14 Erik Bullard RH 6-5 205 Jr. Santa Cruz, Calif. / Scotts Valley Sopocy also has an established base at the high school level. In his first season as Head 15 Parker Payne MB 6-2 210 Fr. Winter Park, Fla. / Winter Park Volleyball Coach for Resurrection Prep, Sopocy led the girls to the State championship 16 Teddy Gedville S 6-4 240 Fr. Lake Villa, Ill. / Grayslake North game. He also drove Resurrection Prep to the best record in school history (33-9), including their first-ever GCAC Conference Championship and first ever Super-Sectional win. The 2017 17 Christian Ayar UTL 5-8 180 Fr. Lansing, Ill. / South Elgin Resurrection Volleyball team is now decorated as the Best Sports Team in Resurrection history. 18 Johnny Euler RS 6-2 165 So. Chicago, Ill. / Saint Patrick 19 Emmanuel Eugene OH 6-1 180 Fr. Grayslake, Ill. / Grayslake Central No stranger to North Park, Sopocy served as an Assistant Coach with the women’s volleyball team from 2012-2014. During that time, he was in charge of position training, player 20 Frank Mauigoa OH 6-1 220 Sr. Pago Pago, A.S. / Tafuna development, recruiting, and game planning. He also served as the strength and conditioning 21 Quinn Robinson MB 6-4 215 So. Redondo, Calif. / Redondo Union coach. 22 Ikenna Nkuku MB 6-3 215 Fr. Hillside, Ill. / Montini Catholic Lucas Coach Lucas Yanez began his North Park coaching AssISTANT Coach career with the Viking volleyball programs in the fall YANEZ of 2020.

Head Coach: Michael Sopocy (3rd season) Prior to joining North Park, Yanez assisted the University of Miami’s women’s volleyball program from 2018 until this past September. While at Miami, he helped the Canes lead the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in aces per set (1.52) while carrying an overall record of 13-12. Assistant Coaches: Lucas Yanez, Joseth Irizarry, Brianne Schultz Yanez also assisted in developing liberos, defensive specialists, and all floor defenders. Student Assistant: Taegyu “Brad” Uhm Yanez helped guide the Benedictine University men’s volleyball team to a 21-6 record and a co-conference championship in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) in 2018, where the team totaled a NACC third-best 10.8 digs per set.

PRO-NUN-SEE-AY-SHUNS Prior to Benedictine, Yanez spent one season as an assistant coach with the Coastal Carolina University women’s volleyball team, helping the Chanticleers to a 28-5 record, a first-place finish in the Sun Belt Conference and a second-round appearance in the 2016 2. keen-YO-niss NCAA tournament. Along with coaching and skill development, Yanez was heavily involved in 10. sal-uh-czar recruiting and game strategy. 18. YOU-lerr Along with his coaching experience, Yanez amassed numerous accolades as a player at Lewis University (C ‘15). Yanez was named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s (AVCA) 20. mow-ee-GO-ah All-America second team, Volleyball Magazine All-America second team and was All-MIVA first 22. ee-ken-uh, nn-COO-COO team.

Sopocy “supposey” Yanez yuh-nez Joseth Joseth Irizarry enters his first year as a GRADUATE ASST. COACH graduate assistant coach for the North Irizarry roll the r’s IRIZARRY Park men’s volleyball team.

Irizarry built coaching experience at Club Savannah Volleyball in Savannah, Georgia, working alongside other club directors to host regional tournaments.

Irizarry was a member of the Springfield College men’s volleyball team in 2017 and 2018, earning back-to-back national championships with the team. He also served as a member of the Student Athlete Leadership Team as the volleyball representative. He graduated from Springfield in the fall of 2018 with a degree in sport management.

‘21 NPU MVB 4 ‘21 NPU MVB 5 ADMINISTRATIVE TEAM ADMINISTRATIVE TEAM Assistant vp - four-time cciw coach of the year 2017 national coach of the year Associate director of athletics Johnson has engineered a revitalization of the North established sport management program BROUGHT 2017 TEAM TO Park program. The 16th-year head coach athletics & Sport Management AT NORTH PARK UNIVERSITY NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH & head baseball coach has turned the 1-39 College Conference of & Wisconsin (CCIW) basement-dwelling club of 2005 into a program that has garnered attention on the conference and national level. On his John Born transitioned from 20-year Head Men’s Soccer Coach to Assistant Vice watch, the Vikings have become a CCIW postseason tournament team, earned spots in President for Athletics and Sport Management in the summer of 2019. Since then, Born both the regional and national rankings, won CCIW titles, and competed in the NCAA has had a direct impact on the Athletics branding and marketing upgrades made on the tournament. campus of North Park University. John Luke Johnson’s players appear throughout the career and single season record BORN As a coach, Born took over a North Park team that, before his arrival, had won only JOHNSON books. They’ve fared well on the CCIW level with 50 of his players being named one game in 1998. Under his direction, the program has had 18 consecutive winning to the All-CCIW squad. Additionally, Johnson’s Vikings have earned two CCIW seasons, captured five CCIW titles, achieved regional rankings from 2001-2014 and was “Pitcher of the Year” awards and one CCIW “Newcomer of the Year” nod. ranked nationally 2005-2012, and yet again in 2017 and 2018. He has coached 85 All-CCIW players, 49 All-Region selections, 12 All-Americans and 4 CCIW Players of the Year. His players On the national level, 27 players have been selected to the Rawlings/ABCA All Central Region have also had the distinct honor of being selected “North Park Athlete of the Year” ten times team, with two ABCA All-American award winners, four Rawlings National Gold Glove winners, under his tenure. and one Central Region “Pitcher of the Year” winner. Johnson’s Vikings have included MLB draft picks and free-agent signees. For his efforts, Johnson has earned the CCIW “Coach Born concluded his impactful coaching career with a record of 234-104-37. He has been of the Year” award three times (2006, 2011, 2012). His 293 wins are good for second all-time at named Coach of the Year in the CCIW (2004, 2005, 2010, and 2017) and the Lake Michigan NPU, and he is the fastest coach to reach 200 wins in the 100+ year history of the program. Conference (1996). Born was also named the Central Region Coach of the Year and National Coach of the Year by D3soccer.com in 2017 after leading his team to a national runner-up The accolades for his teams are not strictly baseball related, however. The Vikings have also finish. The historic run ended with a season record of 20-2-2, including a CCIW title and CCIW tournament title. seen an equally impressive elevation in their academic performance. Their team grade point average has steadily risen to consistently over a 3.0. This hard work has culminated with Born has also been instrumental in establishing a sport management concentration for a multitude of Academic All-CCIW team members, multiple prestigious CCIW Jack Swartz undergraduate students in the School of Business and Non-Profit Management. academic award winners, five Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-District selections, and one Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-American award. For the last three years, the Vikings have At Milwaukee School of Engineering, Born showed his ability to lift a program from the also earned the ABCA team academic award. depths. Born started at MSOE with a team that finished 1-12-1 in his first season, and steadily built the program. Displaying marked improvement over a four-year stretch, Born’s 1998 As a player at Elmhurst College, Johnson set an NCAA record for consecutive times team posted a 13-5-2 record in his final season at MSOE. reaching base safely (all divisions), earned both All-CCIW First Team and Rawlings/ABCA All-Central Region honors as an outfielder, as well as a two-time Verizon/CoSIDA Academic Prior to becoming a head coach, Born earned his bachelor’s degree from Concordia All-Region honors as a student. He still holds places in the career record book in a number University of Wisconsin and a Master of Science in Sport Management from the University of Elmhurst career and single season offensive categories. He holds degrees from Elmhurst of Richmond. While playing on a nationally ranked NAIA team at Concordia, Born was (BA-Physical Education) and North Central (MLS-Leadership Studies). honored as a team captain, team MVP, All-Lake Michigan Conference, NSCAA All-Midwest Region pick, and an NSCAA All-American Scholar Athlete. Johnson and his wife, Kelli, are the parents of three children; Jacob, Brady, and Erin.

He and his wife, Jennifer, reside in , Ill.

Tyler Sports information director Tyler Woolbright enters his Susan Associate Director of athletics - Susan Zimmer has served as the third year as the Sports associate athletic director and WOOLBRIGHT & Gameday management administrator Information Director at ZIMMER compliance & rentals athletic facilities director at North North Park University. Park University since 2006. Her As the head of sports information and game day management, Woolbright oversees all intercollegiate responsibilities include compliance, facility rentals, and overseeing the general operations of sports affiliated with North Park University. The sports information department oversees the production the 68,000-square-foot Helwig Recreation Center that opened in the fall of 2006. Zimmer also and dissemination of statistics, game day programs, rosters, media guides, player/coach bios, website design, sports photography, live streaming, student workers, part-time workers, and pre/post-game served as the head volleyball coach at North Park from 1997–2005. stories. Additionally, Woolbright is in charge of all North Park University Athletics social media accounts.

Zimmer earned a bachelor’s degree from Illinois Wesleyan University, where she was a four- Since stepping into the position, Woolbright has spearheaded the revitalization of NPU Athletics social media accounts. The NPU Athletics Twitter account has grown from 112 to 1,397 followers, Instagram year letter winner in volleyball and . She was honored as a team captain, team MVP, has grown from 79 to 1,234 followers, and Facebook has grown from ~200 to 1,541 “likes”. Additionally, All-Conference selection in both sports, and selected into the Order of the Titans. Zimmer Woolbright has implemented the use of Facebook live streaming for all of North Park’s home athletics received a master of arts in education from Saint Xavier University and a MBA from North events. These streaming improvements have increased the traffic of online viewership for NPU fans and beyond, as live streaming views have skyrocketed from, on average, 430 views per session to 1,040. Park University. During the 2019-20 academic year, directed by a rebranding initiative from first-year Director of Athletics, John Born, Woolbright was in charge of updating and redesigning Athletics branding throughout campus. The project is currently ongoing, with the first installation of hallway wall graphics installed in Carlson Tower during the spring of 2020.

He currently resides in Kenosha, Wis. with his wife, Katelyn (C’ 15).

‘21 NPU MVB 6 ‘21 NPU MVB 7 Returners

Phill Frank DUROS 6 MAUIGOA 20

MB 6-2 / 180lbs Senior OH 6-1 / 220lbs Senior

Lincolnwood, Illinois Pago Pago, American Samoa Tafuna High School

2020: Played in 13 matches for the Vikings ... Totaled 40 kills in 2020: Named to the first-ever All-College Conference 114 total attacks ... Carried a .175 hitting percentage ... Tallied of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) team as a second-team six service aces and five assists ... Blocked a team third-best selection ... In league action: led the CCIW with 18 blocks 21 attacks from his opponents ... Added 10 digs ... Marked a and 71 digs ... Drove a CCIW fourth-best 66 kills ... season-high six blocks against Maranatha Baptist (1/18) ... Had a pair of service aces against Millikin (2/18) ... Saw five matches Played in 15 matches and made 11 starts for the Vikings with two or more blocks. ... Accumulated team second-bests in kills (140), attacking percentage (.205), blocks (29), and digs (136) ... Added 17 Johnny assists and four service aces ... Held a strong reception percentage of .940 ... Posted a season-high 17 kills and five EULER 18 assists against Millikin (2/18) ... At Millikin, marked six blocks (3/5) ... Dug out 18 attacks at Lakeland (2/14) ... Had seven matches of double-digit kills ... Saw seven matches with two or more blocks ... Added seven matches of double-digit RS 6-2 / 165lbs Sophomore digs. 2019: Played in all 26 matches, making 23 starts ... Finished Chicago, Illinois the season with a team-leading .242 hitting percentage ... Saint Patrick High School Held team second-bests in total kills (179) and kills per set (1.95) ... Totaled 38 blocks (0.41 per set), 31 digs, and a pair of service aces ... Had a season-best 14 kills against Judson 2020: In league action: Blocked a CCIW second-best (behind University on March 12 ... Made seven blocks against teammate Frank Mauigoa) 17 attacks. Maranatha Baptist University on April 5. Played in all 17 matches, making 12 starts for the Vikings ... Totaled a team fourth-best 49 kills in 197 attacks ... Led the Vikings with 31 blocks ... Picked up six service aces and seven assists ... Added 31 digs ... Had a season-high six blocks against Armando Millikin (2/18) ... Totaled a season-high six kills and 12 digs against Maranatha Baptist (1/18) . QUINONES 2

S/RS 6-2 / 165lbs Sophomore

San Juan, Puerto Rico THE St. Mary’s School 2020: In league action: Drove a CCIW sixth-best seven service aces ...

Played in 17 matches and made 13 starts ... Led the Vikings with 160 kills (2.91 per set) and 15 service aces ... Added eight RETURNERS assists, 112 digs, and nine blocks ... Totaled eight double-digit kill performances, including a season-high 13 against Lakeland and St. Norbert (2/14) ... Had five matches with two or more (L-R) Quinones, Duros, Mauigoa service aces, including a season-high three against Greenville (3/7) ... Accumulated four 10-dig matches.

‘21 NPU MVB 9 Returners

Noah SALAZAR 10

OH/DS 5-10/ 150lbs Sophomore

Minneapolis, Minnesota Hopkins High School

2020: Played in all 17 matches and made 13 starts for the Vikings ... Tallied team third-bests in kills (91) kills in service aces (11), and digs (114) ... Carried a serving percentage of .904 ... Led the Vikings with a .940 reception percentage ... Blocked seven attacks ... Had a season-high 17 kills and 15 digs against St. Norbert (2/14) ... Drove three service aces against Rockford (1/17) ... Had two matches of double- digit kills: at Lakeland (2/14) and St. Norbert ... Added two matches of double-digit digs: against St. Norbert and Millikin (2/18).

Colin WONG 1

L/DS 5-7 / 140lbs Grad. Student

Skokie, Illinois Niles West High School THE 2020: Played in all 17 matches for the Vikings ... Led the team with 158 digs while marking an .890 reception percentage ... Added a team second-best 28 assists ... Had a season- high 19 digs against St. Norbert (2/14) ... Saw five matches of Colin Wong double-digit digs. NEWCOMERS 2019: Played in all 26 matches... Had a team-leading 206 digs (2.22 per set) ... Tallied 12 service aces, three kills, and nine assists ... Posted six matches of double-digit digs, including THE a season-high 17 against MIT (3/28) ... Tallied a season-high three service aces against Concordia Chicago (1/26). NEWCOMERS

‘21 NPU MVB 10 Newcomers

Christian Kevin 2021 Season Schedule AYAR 17 JACOB 3 JANUARY 23 vs. Adrian Chicago, IL 7:00 PM UTL 5-8 / 180lbs Junior DS/L 5-10 / 160lbs Freshman

5 vs. Benedictine Chicago, IL 7:00 PM Des Plaines, Illinois FEBRUARY Lansing, Illinois 10 vs. Illinois Wesleyan DH Chicago, IL 3:00 / 5:00 PM South Elgin High School 17 @ Millikin Decatur, IL 6:00 PM 21 @ Illinois Wesleyan Bloomington, IL 7:00 PM Walter Ikenna 24 vs. Augustana Chicago, IL 6:00 PM BERTHOLD 4 NKUKU 22 26 @ Loras Dubuque, IA 7:00 PM 3 vs. North Central Naperville, IL 7:00 PM MB 6-3 / 215lbs Freshman MARCH DS/L 5-8 / 155lbs Freshman 10 @ Carthage Kenosha, WI 7:00 PM 13 vs. Millikin Chicago, IL 7:00 PM Honolulu, Hawaii Hillside, Illinois 17 vs. Illinois Wesleyan Chicago, IL 7:00 PM Montini Catholic High School 20 @ Augustana Rock Island, IL 3:00 PM 24 vs. Loras Chicago, IL 7:00 PM Erik Kaleb 27 @ North Central Naperville, IL 3:00 PM BULLARD 14 PATRICK 5 APRIL 3 vs. Carthage Chicago, IL 2:00 PM RS 6-5 / 205lbs Junior DS/L 5-11 / 190lbs Freshman

Santa Cruz, California Grayslake, Illinois Bishop McDevitt High School / Fitchburg State Grayslake Central High School Alejandro Parker 2020 Season Schedule & Results (5-12, 3-4 CCIW) CONDOY 8 PAYNE 15 JANUARY 17 vs. Rockford Chicago, IL W, 3-0 18 vs. Adrian Chicago, IL L, 3-0 18 vs. Maranatha Baptist Chicago, IL W, 3-0 L/S 5-4 / 160lbs Sophomore MB 6-2 / 210lbs Freshman

1 @ Aurora Aurora, IL L, 3-0 Winter Park, FEBRUARY Guayaquil, Ecuador 11 vs. Concordia WI Chicago, IL L, 3-0 Ecomundo / Greenville University Winter Park High School 14 vs. Lakeland Chicago, IL L, 3-1 15 Concordia (IL) Watertown, WI L, 3-0 Emmanuel Quinn 15 @ Maranatha Baptist Watertown, WI L, 3-0 18 vs. Millikin Chicago, IL W, 3-1 EUGENE 19 ROBINSON 21 20 @ North Central Naperville, IL L, 3-0 26 @ Augustana Rock Island, IL L, 3-0 28 vs. Loras Chicago, IL L, 3-1 OH 6-1 / 180lbs Freshman MB/OH 6-4 / 215lbs Sophomore MARCH 2 vs. Sacred Heart Chicago, IL L, 3-0 Grayslake, Illinois Redondo, California 5 @ Millikin Decatur, IL W, 3-0 Grayslake Central High School Redondo Union High School 7 vs. Greenville Chicago, IL W, 3-0 7 vs. Penn State Behrend Chicago, IL L, 3-0 Teddy 11 vs. Carthage Chicago, IL L, 3-0 GEDVILLE 35

S 6-4 / 240lbs Freshman

Lake Ville, Illinois Grayslake North High School ‘21 NPU MVB 12 ‘21 NPU MVB 13