Pam and tommy
Assist Man
Not many sophomores get the accolades heaped on them that Victor volleyball player Cory Phillips has in just two short years of playing on the varsity for the Blue Devils. Count 2008 Daily Messenger Boys Volleyball Player of the Year among those awards for the quiet unassuming Phillips who finds it difficult being the center of attention when he is surrounded by what he calls “a lot of great guys on this team.” “I’m just a part of this team,” said Phillips who averaged 27 assists per match. “I mean with guys like Robbie (Page), Matt (Elgin) and Dan (Glamack) how could you not look good?”When asked to name a high point of the season, Phillips — who was the Section 5 tournament MVP and a second-team All-Monroe County selection — didn’t hesitate in coming up with an answer.“I can’t even describe the feeling we all got at winning the Regionals,” he said. “It felt great. I just couldn’t stop grinning.”The Blue Devils rode the wave of an incredible season, including beating their nemesis, the Midlakes Screaming Eagles, in the sectional finals. It would have been nice to see them get a chance to go after a state championship, but alas, no such thing exists for boys volleyball in New York. “Given the circumstances in that the Regionals were as far as we could have gone is a bit disappointing,” Phillips said. “With this team we would have had a good chance of winning it all. It wouldn’t have been easy and it certainly wouldn’t have been handed to us. But I felt that if we continued to work hard as we did all year we would have had a good shot.”Make no mistake about it, though, Phillips and his teammates were thrilled with the Regional title. But being a sophomore among a bunch of upperclassmen, Phillips was more thrilled for his veteran teammates.“I was really happy at the moment for everyone else,” he said. “We have several guys on this team that have played for years, working hard to play as far as they could to just get past Midlakes and win the sectionals. Then to not only achieve that goal but to also win the Regionals, I just felt great for all those guys. “When it was over I went around and congratulated every senior on our team. I enjoyed it for myself, too, but those guys really deserved to end their high school volleyball career with that regional win. We just took baby steps as the season went on and accomplished all of our goals by season end. It was a great feeling setting those goals and finally achieving every one of them.”One doesn’t have to dig deep to discover where Phillips got the love of not only volleyball but several other sports. “My mom, I remember ever since I was about 7 or 8 years old, was coaching volleyball, basketball and softball,” he said, referring to his mother, Denise Dillman, who currently is an assistant coach for the Victor girls varsity volleyball team under Shelly Collins. “I remember taking part in all three of those sports, running around on the sidelines while mom coached. But of all three of those sports, I guess it was volleyball that sunk in the most.”He added that his mom always makes sure that he gets to his practices and matches first, sometimes making herself late for where she needs to be.“Especially this last year,” he said, “with all the postseason practices and games that we both had going on.”And most conversations with Phillips circle back to his teammates.“Playing with Dan, Matt and Rob was invaluable,” he said. “I mean both Dan and Rob made the A-1 camp for the USA volleyball team, something that Matt has done, also. That is a lot of experience that those guys brought to the team. I also thought that Darrin Carter also worked hard for us. He has a basketball background and to play as well as he did with that type of a background was invaluable.”He also credited coach Dave Wisniewski, who was named the Daily Messenger Coach of the Year.“He has a beach volleyball background and he did a great job at coaching hardwood volleyball for only his second year,” Phillips said.With two more varsity seasons ahead of him, it’s difficult for Phillips to think about his future except to be playing Victor volleyball. But he does hope to play the sport in college. Ron Wilson can be reached at (585) 690-0223 or rwilson@messengerpostmedia.com
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