Wearing a number 7 jersey on the court, he gets a pass perfect for a set. He sets it and watches his teammate execute a perfect kill. D1 commit and Niles West varsity volleyball team captain, Charlie Podgorny is leading the Wolves with a 9-2 record so far this season. 

As a senior, he is looking forward to his career after high school, but is still focused on the goals he wants to achieve here at Niles West. 

“[This season] I want to try to win a regional title because we haven’t won one in a couple years,” Podgorny said.

We all start from somewhere, especially all star athletes like Podgorny. He wouldn’t have gotten this far if it weren’t for his biggest motivators.  

“My mom and brother motivated me to play volleyball. They both started playing before me. My brother and mom went and played in college.”

Boys’ varsity head coach, Andrew Roche thinks highly of Podgorny and proudly describes him as a high IQ player.

“Some adjectives that come to mind would be passionate, aggressive, knowledgeable. He is a student of the game which means he doesn’t just play the game, he does his best to understand strategy, positioning, and he’s able to dissect the game as he plays it, so he’s very mindful,” Roach said.

Podgorny’s volleyball skills don’t just stand out to his coach, but his teammate and good friend Brandon Chi who has been playing with Podgorny for all four years of high school and three years on a club team.

“I think he is the hardest worker I know. All he thinks about is volleyball and getting better everyday, especially as captain he brings out his leadership skills and makes sure everyone is on the same page, [so] we stay ready to win the games” Chi said.

Over the years playing at West, Podgorny has been consistently improving his skills and work ethic.

“He’s improved in a lot of different aspects. Specifically when you talk about skill wise when he was younger he was looked at just as a setter, but now he does everything for us whether it’s setting, hitting, passing, blocking, or serving,” Roche said. “He has developed his entire game not just one specific skill set which has made him a better player for numerous reasons. He has also improved his cerebral aspect of it all which again gives him an advantage over a lot of other players on the team.” 

Podgorny’s college plans are as ambitious as he is on the court.

“For college I want to make the travel team freshman year and then hopefully be an All-American,” Podgorny said.

Next fall Podgorny will be heading to Missouri to play Division 1 volleyball at Lindenwood University. As Lindenwood is normally a Division 2 school, it competes at the Division 1 level for three sports, one being men’s volleyball.