When Mike Prosek chose to leave the Ball State men’s volleyball program after his sophomore year in 1994 and transfer to Lewis University, he was certain he was making the right decision.
But the Oak Lawn native and former Richards High School standout was just as certain he was going it alone on this particular move.
His good friend and teammate for the previous five years, Jeff Hisgen, was staying put in Muncie, Ind., for reasons that were much deeper than mere kills, blocks and ace serves.
“I thought about leaving. I really did for a while,” Hisgen said. “But I’m an elementary education major, and Ball State is one of the top schools in the country in that particular field. Besides, I liked where I stood on the team.”
“Jeff’s girlfriend also lived in Muncie,” added Prosek with a laugh. “With that in mind, the playing time he was going to get and his major, I knew he wasn’t going back to Illinois with me.”
The success of the duo–they helped lead Richards to the state title in 1992–continued even when they split up.
Hisgen led Ball State to two straight NCAA Final Four appearances, resulting in two third-place finishes, before his team was knocked off in the Midwest Conference final last season.
The team that defeated the Cardinals and advanced to its first Final Four? Lewis University in Romeoville, where Prosek has become the all-time leader in career kills (1,285), attempts (2,614) and aces (103).
“Everything has worked out pretty well for both of us,” said Hisgen from his apartment in Muncie. “I wasn’t happy that our Final Four streak ended last year.
“If we couldn’t go, though, I’m glad it was Mike’s team that qualified.”
When Lewis finished third in the country, it wasn’t just Prosek whom Hisgen was supporting. Their volleyball coach at Richards, Dave Deuser, happened to be the Flyers’ coach, taking Lewis from a non-existent program to the third-best team in the country in just three years.
Deuser’s 1992 Richards squad captured the first officially sanctioned IHSA boys volleyball state title. And with its 41-0 record, the Bulldogs, led by Player of the Year Prosek and All-Stater Hisgen, might be the best team to play in this state.
This fact wasn’t lost on Deuser, who left Richards the same year Prosek and Hisgen graduated and thought he could bring a carbon copy of that success to the collegiate level.
“I remember sitting in my kitchen with Mike and Jeff, playing a game of `Risk’ and talking about their future,” Deuser said. “I was very tempted to tell those two to go off to Ball State for one year and then come back to Lewis once I had the program off the ground.
“But I didn’t really know what sort of commitment I would get from Lewis. I also worked hard with both of those guys to get them placed at Ball State, and I didn’t want them to lose out on a chance to play for one of the country’s top programs.”
The fact that Prosek and Hisgen have become college stars is not a surprise to Deuser.
“They were two of the most coachable, hard-working kids I’ve ever been around,” said Deuser, whose Prosek-Hisgen Richards teams went 87-6 over three seasons.
“If I told them I wanted to break down volleyball film with them, they would be there,” Deuser said. “If I told them I wanted to go to the beach to see the quickness of some of the players in a specific tournament, they were there. We would spend hours on Sunday with me hitting volleyballs at them just so they could improve their passing. They were always working to be the best, and you can see where that desire brought them.”
No. 8 Ball State (22-8) and No. 11 Lewis (23-9) will be the top two teams in the Midwest Conference tournament beginning this weekend. And with an at-large team sent to the Final Four along with the three conference champs, both teams could end up playing for the top prize.
That idea suits Prosek and Hisgen just fine. With nothing guaranteed, though, these two friends may be pitted against each other if they meet in the third and deciding match in this season’s series.
