Chicago Christian’s Jack Dryfhout, who is heading to Baylor to concentrate on a degree in finance, will give up competitive volleyball in college.
His dream job?
“I want to manage other people’s money,” he said.
If the senior setter manages other people’s money like he handles things on the court for the Knights, there could be a lot of rich people popping up in the next few years.
Dryfhout has played every match in program history for Chicago Christian, which beat the host Spartans 25-17, 25-17 and St. Laurence 23-25, 25-20, 15-10 in the first two matches Wednesday at a quadrangular in Oak Lawn.
In 2019, Dryfhout started his career in the Knights’ inaugural season dishing out assists to Zach Bulthuis, who went on to become an All-American hitter at NCAA Division III national champion Carthage.
The pandemic helped to wipe out the 2020 season, but Chicago Christian returned in 2021 with a 17-11 record. And now, the Knights (11-2) are hoping for a huge remainder of the 2022 season.
It all starts with Dryfhout.
“Jack’s leadership on the court is just amazing,” Chicago Christian coach Deb Lindemulder said. “He’s saying things to the guys before I am and I appreciate that. He has been great for the program.”
Dryfhout has played with many of his senior teammates on the club level as well as on last year’s team for the Knights, so he’s familiar with their work.
“It makes it so much easier to set to people if you know they are going to hit it down,” he said. “We have the chemistry and it just works. As a setter, I like being able to control where people go.”
Dryfhout fed the ball against Oak Lawn, leading to a balanced attack. Grant Veldman and Nolan Krygsheld each had six kills and Ian Faber added four.
The first game had five ties before Chicago Christian scored four straight points and pulled away from an 11-7 lead.
The second game was tied at 13-13 when the Knights scored five straight points to take an 18-13 lead. Michael Nichols and Krygsheld had solo blocks to start that run.
Dryfhout comes from a volleyball family. His sisters Jordan (Augustana) and Maddie (Illinois Wesleyan) played for Chicago Christian and went on to play in college.
“They got me involved and I’ve been at it since I was 14,” Jack said. “My 18 club season finished up and I don’t think we’re going to nationals, so this is it for me.”
Oak Lawn recovered to beat Hancock 25-12, 25-16 in the second match.
Ehaab Samra contributed five kills and six assists for the Spartans (8-10), while Caden Figus had four kills and 10 assists. Damian Komperda notched four kills.
The Spartans have added a Oisin Walsh, a freshman middle hitter, to the mix.
“We’ve been going through some different lineups, so we’re just trying to find the right group to jell,” Oak Lawn coach Matthew Hunt said. “I pulled up a freshman just this weekend. He’s getting acclimated to playing on this level, how fast it is, and he’s been playing well.”
Chicago Christian, meanwhile, has come a long way in four years.
“This feels great,” Lindemulder said. “I knew they had it in them. This team has so much talent, and when we get on a roll, we’re tough to beat. When you feel the flow of the game going, it’s really exciting.”
Even though this season is the end of the line, Dryfhout still carries a rookie’s excitement into every match.
“It feels good when it all comes together,” he said. “It’s like a machine. When you see the set go down, it feels great.
“We’re off to a good start this year, we only lost one senior from last year, and this is our best team in our history.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
