Since his freshman year at Marist, Christian Teresi has won numerous awards for volleyball.
But there’s more to Teresi than meets the eye. He was one of 17 students from his school to be recognized in the Letters About Literature competition, earning honorable mention.
Teresi turned in a letter about Traci Chee, who wrote the novel, “We Are Not Free.”
“That was something I did at the beginning of my sophomore year,” Teresi said. “We had a choice of a book to write about. I picked that one and wrote about how it inspired me.”
While Teresi has two more years to go before the last chapter of his high school career is written, he’s off to a promising start for the powerhouse RedHawks — to say the least.
The 2023 Daily Southtown Boys Volleyball Player of the Year authored a huge season this spring with 659 assists, 203 kills, 201 digs, 83 blocks and 60 aces for Marist (35-4).
Teresi was named the East Suburban Catholic Conference’s player of the year for the second straight season, but there was a twist. He was mainly a setter as a freshman.
This spring, Teresi split his talents between setting and hitting from the right side — and the results were stunning.
When Teresi grew a few inches to 6-2, Marist coach Jordan Vidovic developed a game plan that would let his setter loose and go on the attack.
“We went in knowing it was going to be a viable option,” Vidovic said. “And then when we tested our verticals at tryouts, he was the highest on the team, touching well over 11 feet.
“You kind of knew it was more and more likely he was going to give us that extra threat and that extra option.”
In a 20-25, 25-23, 25-13 win on May 3 over Hinsdale Central, Teresi led the RedHawks in five categories with 10 kills, 10 digs, 32 assists, three blocks and three aces.
It surprised even heralded teammate Marty Canavan.
“I’ve never heard of anything like that,” Canavan said after the match.
Vidovic pointed out the adjustments Teresi makes in pulling off the on-court daily double are pretty tough.
“I’ve only been a setter,” Vidovic said. “I know the toughness mentally to go game by game and manage your entire team, and you have to be the quarterback. You have to keep everything in control, and you’re the one who has to touch the ball every single play.
“Then to go from that to flip your focus at one point and now be the go-to offensive weapon, it’s not easy to just magically feel comfortable with those motions.”
One of the things Teresi had to learn was to not go after the ball for a set when he’s a hitter.
“I still need to work on it,” he said. “I’ve done that a couple of times because I’m used to always taking the second ball.”
Teresi confirmed setting is his priority. He figures that’s what he will do when he gets into college.
Even so, he also gets a kick out of the crowd’s reaction when he bounces a big kill and celebrates with his teammates. It’s also a good lesson for his setting.
“Now that I’m hitting, I understand what hitters are feeling when I set them,” he said.
Teresi has a big summer ahead, trying to win a national club championship with Adversity and joining Marist teammate Nathen Toth for sand volleyball tournaments.
“We were thinking of doing beach nationals this year, but there was no time to do it because of club nationals,” Teresi said. “But we’ll be playing on some beaches around here.
“It will be fun.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
