Lyons Volleyball Coach Pyritz Named National Coach of the Year

Lyons Township girls volleyball coach Joann Pyritz has been named National Coach of the Year by PrepVolleyball.com, sharing the honor with Stephen Pierce of Eden High School in New York.

Pyritz’s record with the LTHS volleyball program is stupefying. A player on the team that won the school’s first state volleyball title in 1976, Pyritz took over coaching the team in 1989—and promptly won the school’s second championship in her first year.

Then, in the fall of last year, Pyritz’s star-studded squad powered through challengers en route to a 41-1 record and a third title, upsetting PrepVolleyball’s national no. 1 team, Cary-Grove, avenging a state title loss from 2009. (En route, they also avenged their one 2010 loss, versus Marist, in super sectionals.)

“While that success is all well and good, it’s not what made Pyritz our choice to be Coach of the Year,” wrote PrepVolleyball in a release forwarded by LTHS. “Rather, we were persuaded of her greatness by testimonials penned by parents of senior players on the team.”

Two of Pyritz’s star outside hitters spoke highly of her coaching skills.

“She’s a good lady,” said senior Jocelynn Birks, who will be moving on to play for the University of Illinois. “She’s really calm when we’re playing even though it’s a really intense situation—like state, for instance. She helped me a lot with learning to be calm during situations where everything else is crazy. And she’s funny, very sarcastic—she tells a lot of jokes.”

“She is very fair to everyone,” added senior Kasey O’Malley. “Even as a non-starter, I felt like a member of the team. She always talks about representing LT well, [and] she keeps a balance between focusing, staying on task, and making sure that everyone has fun… by the end of the season, she makes sure that we’ve all become a volleyball family.”

Coach Pyritz herself is quick to deflect any glory, however well-deserved.

“My name is obviously attached to it, and I’m flattered and humbled by it, but honestly, an award like this doesn’t belong to one person,” Pyritz said. “It’s a group effort and a group commitment.

“There’s many coaches out there who work equally hard. There’s no substitute for having great kids and teaching at a great school… I emphasize teamwork, trust in each other, playing for your school, and I emphasize that every year. We simply had a high level of skill and a high affinity for being part of a team [this year], valuing working together for the goal of the state championship.”

Pyritz said that the girls on the team should take just as much pride, if not more, in the accomplishment.

“This group of kids cared more about what the team got than what they got individually,” she said.