UNO was founded in 1984 by Christine Beltzhoover and started with only 2 teams, one at 16’s and the other at the 18’s age group. Club volleyball in general was fairly new and quite small at the time, consisting of only the 14’s, 16’s and 18’s divisions. During the early years, UNO's main practice facility was the Joliet Armory. Even today it still feels like home when you walk on the hardwood floors and the Military gear spread throughout the gym.

In 1988 UNO would pause operations due to the lack of awareness of club sports in the area but would later reopen in 1990. From then on, the club would continue to flourish to the point it required additional facilities to accommodate expansion of our programs. Schools like Wesmere, Trinity Christian School and Channahon Park District were some of the main sites.

As club volleyball began to take off to what it is today, the need for a stable facility was eminent. The first of these stable sites was a Mound Road facility. After 5-6 years there, growth again would move us to the UNO site in Rockdale on Larkin.

Today our programs are housed in our new 4 court facility on Joyce Rd. in Joliet. We have grown to more than 25 teams between our boys and girls programs, and our athletes continue to strengthen area school volleyball programs and leading their teams to state titles. The humble beginnings of this club has truly made UNO a special place for athletes to grow in the sport of volleyball. Over the years, Director Terri Baranski along with some very dedicated coaching counterparts have put in countless hours to bettering and growing UNO to what it is today.

Our focus has ALWAYS been on the complete development of the whole player. Our dedicate coaching staff takes pride in evolving with the sport by being students of the game through collaboration at all levels of volleyball and dedicating endless hours developing area athletes. Because of these efforts UNO has evolved into a Midwest powerhouse.

YES, UNO is a smaller club, but our SMALL but MIGHTY mindset and lack of court congestion offers quality over quantity to prepare our athletes to compete at the highest levels in the sport. This is evident by the success of our alumni competing at some of the top collegiate programs in the nation, and our very own medal winning Olympian.  

Hang on to your hats the ride isn’t over!