In his three seasons with the Oak Park and River Forest High School boys volleyball team, rising senior Jimmie “Trayce” Chrusfield III has developed into one of the state’s top prospects in the Class of 2027. This past season, he finished with 263 kills, 106 digs, 31 blocks, and 26 aces as the Huskies were runner-up in the IHSA state tournament with a record of 33-6-1.
For Chrusfield, the reasons for his success are simple: maturity and hard work.
“My freshman year, being 14, competing against much older competition was tough in some ways,” he said in an interview with Wednesday Journal. “Over the three years of play, I definitely learned confidence in myself and my teammates. But like so many other things, my success hinges on my ability to decide on what I want and then to put in the work to get there.”
Chrusfield’s work ethic was developed before he arrived at OPRF. When he was 12, his coach with Lights Out Volleyball, Harshil Thaker, had him write down his goals, then he went to work on achieving them.
“It’s fun to start to see some of those dreams come to fruition, but there’s so much more in store for the future,” he said.
In addition to OPRF and Lights Out, Chrusfield credits his career development to his club – MOD Volleyball, Transform Fit Club, and the U.S. National Team Training Program.
Speaking of the national team, Chrusfield got valuable experience in May. He tried out for USA Volleyball’s U-19 men’s team and made it. The team played in the 2026 NORCECA Continental Championship in British Columbia, Canada, losing the title match in five hard-fought sets to the host Canadians despite Chrusfield contributing 12 kills, along with a block.
“Competing for the national team was, of course, a really special experience,” he said. “I not only learned so much about the game, but also myself and what I’m capable of. I got to play alongside some amazing volleyball players who are also just really fun people. I truly built friendships for life.”
Upon completion of the NORCECA tournament, Chrusfield rejoined OPRF and helped the Huskies repeat as West Suburban Conference Silver Division champions, going 6-0 in league play.
OPRF reached the state finals for the first time since 2023 and defeated Lake Park in the quarterfinals, then Marist in the semifinals to meet WSC Silver rival Glenbard West in the title match. The Huskies split the first two sets and had a two-point lead midway through the third and final set, but the Hilltoppers rallied to prevail and deny OPRF its first state title in program history.
“We had a lot of confidence going into the game,” Chrusfield said. “I think the main part that gave Glenbard West the upper hand was when we didn’t convert the free balls that were given to us. There were a lot of times when we made mistakes at the wrong time, and that eventually caught up to us. It’s unfortunate, especially since we had it in us to beat them.”
The good news is that Chrusfield returns this upcoming season to lead OPRF, which will be in a bit of a rebuilding phase given the loss of eight players to graduation. But he’s optimistic that the Huskies will remain highly competitive, thanks to head coach Justin Cousin along with assistants Izzy Kibir and Symone Speech.
“It’s an honor playing for Coach Cousin,” Chrusfield said. “He’s one of the most invested coaches I’ve ever played for, and along with coaches Izzy and Symone, we have a coaching staff that we know really cares about us. Without them, we wouldn’t have had as much discipline, and we wouldn’t have gotten as far as we did.”
As far as college goes, Chrusfield is looking for a school in an ideal weather climate that prides itself on both academic and athletic excellence and will challenge him.
“I want a coach who will push me, is innovative, and wants to win it all,” he said. “I’d also like to play somewhere warm and sunny.”
But first, Chrusfield has some unfinished business at OPRF.
“For myself, I just want to dominate, continue to develop my game, and play the best I can every day, no matter who is on the other side,” he said. “For the team, it’s to keep the same energy we had last season and create that bond with each other, which is one of the most important things to build a winning team.”