09/04/2026
For what seemed like years, the Lane Tech boys volleyball program had been a sleeping giant.
Coming into the 2026 season, the Champions had won a regional title in six of the last seven seasons and were looking to go back-to-back in city championship games, as well as get back to the state finals weekend after taking third place last season.
The program did both of those things, taking down Taft for the CPS title for the second consecutive season, earning the program’s first-ever back-to-back city championship. It followed that up by winning its second consecutive sectional title, also a first, guaranteeing it a spot in the state’s final eight.
Unfortunately for the Champions, the dream of bringing home another trophy fell short, as they lost in the state quarterfinals, but that doesn’t overshadow how successful the program has become within the past five years.
“I feel that those achievements have been very impactful,” Lane recent graduate Richard Barwicki said.
“Winning city championships back-to-back, as well as the state runs, I think that through all of the adversity we’ve gone through, it’s shown the potential the program has. It lets every junior, every sophomore, every freshman coming into the program, what’s able to be achieved by a CPS program.”
Read more from Michael Wojtychiw/OSA and see the full photo gallery at the 🔗 in our bio.
📸 Allie Conwell/OSA
