There was some fighting, squabbling, bickering and trash-talking among friends, but Marist’s Griffin McElroy won out in the end. Being the MVP has its perks.
The senior middle hitter earned the honor of having the Karch Kiraly Tournament of Champions trophy that the RedHawks won in his hotel room Saturday night.
“I think the funniest thing was arguing over who was going to keep the trophy overnight,” McElroy said. “I told them I would stay up all night. I wasn’t going to go to sleep without this thing.”
Anyone sleeping on McElroy and Marist over the weekend were in for a shock.
The RedHawks started their five-match trip to California ranked No. 2 in the nation by the USA Today/American Volleyball Coaches Association.
They played No. 1 Mira Costa in the Mustangs’ gym Thursday and dropped a resounding 25-13, 25-12, 25-14 decision.
“We did the best we could but we needed to try a little bit harder,” McElroy said. “We needed to get back in the right mindset.”
They then dove into the tournament headfirst and took all four matches, including a 23-25, 25-20, 25-18, 25-23 win in the semifinals against No. 3 Huntington Beach and the thrilling 21-25, 26-28, 26-24, 25-22, 15-12 in the rematch Saturday against Mira Costa in Santa Barbara.
Another stunner?
With all of the Division I-caliber talent and 6-foot-6 or taller players in the tournament, the 6-1 McElroy — undersized at his position — was named MVP as chosen by the coaches.
That wasn’t on McElroy’s bingo card when the plane went wheels up for the West Coast.
“I really got blindsided,” he said of winning the award. “There’s a lot of talent out there. There’s a lot of talent on our team, and I did not see myself getting the MVP.”
Ohio State-bound Christian Teresi and MIT commit Nathen Toth also made the all-tournament team for Marist (11-1).
All three produced impressive numbers in the tournament. McElroy totaled 11 kills and five blocks in the championship match against Mira Costa (28-2) along with 15 kills, five blocks and two aces in the semifinals against Huntington Beach (27-3).
“We played some big, physical teams, and he just came out of nowhere and was flying around,” Marist coach Jordan Vidovic said of McElroy. “His hitting was ridiculous. He stands out so much because he is undersized. He was playing Mira Costa and we heard about how big they were, but it’s a whole different ballgame in person.
“He really caught those teams off guard with how fast and explosive he was. They really had to change their game to deal with him, and that created a bunch of open looks for the other guys.”
Last year at this time, McElroy was celebrated for his return from a tibia injury, suffered in the previous summer during the AAU Nationals in Orlando, that he called “gruesome.”
He was told he might not play volleyball again.
McElroy had surgery performed right away in Orlando, and after healing and rehabilitation, he was back on the court for the RedHawks in helping them win a state championship in June.
This spring, things are much better on the health front for McElroy.
“A majority of the time, I’m 100%,” he said. “I stopped wearing my ankle brace. I feel way more mobile, way more free. And, yeah, it feels amazing.”
As was his performance in the Karch Kiraly Tournament of Champions.
McElroy is hoping his performance can boost his college stock. Heading into the tournament, he was undecided, considering just academics at Illinois State and possibly joining the club team.
“To be so consistent versus these kinds of blockers, he just caught everybody’s eye,” Vidovic said of McElroy. “Every coach was talking about him to me. All of these California coaches, he was the first one they were noticing, so it wasn’t surprising that he could be that guy to win the MVP.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
