East Aurora finished the regular season with a 4-31 record including 1-8 (eighth place) in the Upstate Eight Conference. “The girls played a tougher than usual schedule this season, putting up some good points against opposing teams,” said head coach Jennifer Wilson. “We played rival West Aurora and put up some good numbers (in a 25-19, 25-14 loss), some of the best scores the program has seen in a number of years.”East Aurora was a mixed team with seven seniors, two juniors and five sophomores.Junior middle hitter Barakat Adekola was sel...
Lyons Twp. Invite schedule
Thursday, October 18 results
Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond def. Okaw Valley 25-22, 25-22 Okaw Valley: Kailynn Bobbett (1 ace, 1 block, 2 digs), Madison Vogel (5 kills, 2 aces, 3 blocks, 1 dig), Kate Jeffers (11 kills, 2 aces, 4 blocks, 1 dig), Paige Coleman (8 kills, 1 ace, 13 digs), Sadie Zimmerman (26 assists, 6 digs), Bella Benning (4 kills, 11 digs), April Decesaro (17 digs). Bement def. Decatur Lutheran 23-25, 25-21, 26-24 Bement: Shelby Strack (9 kills, 17 digs, 1 assist), Trinity Stroisch (6 digs, 2 assists), Haley Gadbury (2 aces, 7 digs), Addie Fritz (1...
Sophomores Kenney, Muisenga push Benet past Minooka
No. 2-ranked Benet won its 12th consecutive regional title Thursday at Oswego East. Kyla Kenney was just a freshman on Benet’s varsity last year, but she remembers the 25-20, 25-20 season-ending loss to Minooka in the sectional finals. “We lost to them last year and in our gut we just wanted to get them back,” said the 5-foot-10 sophomore outside hitter. “We all put in the fight for it. It started with a pass, then I kept asking Ally (setter Van Eekeren) for the ball.” With the second set of Thursday’s championship game of the Oswe...
Familiar foes St. Ignatius, De La Salle advance to Reavis regional championship
Rita Grassano (middle) and St. Ignatius advanced to the Class 4A Reavis Regional championship match. Photo courtesy of St. Ignatius By Randy Whalen Special to Illprepvb.com This is the time of the season to be playing your best volleyball. That’s what St. Ignatius has been doing. The Wolfpack won for the 10th time in its past 14 contests and advanced to the title match of the Class 4A Reavis Regional with a 25-13, 25-19 victory over...
Selman, Naperville North earn another shot at Neuqua Valley
Naperville North advanced to the finals of its own regional with a 25-17, 25-8 victory over Lemont Tuesday. Will the third time be a charm? Or more heartbreak for Naperville North? The Huskies and DuPage Valley Conference rival Neuqua Valley advanced to the championship match of the Naperville North Class 4A Regional on Thursday by handily winning their semifinal matches Tuesday. Naperville North overwhelmed youthful Lemont 25-17, 25-8 in the first semifinal, while Neuqua Valley shrugged off a valiant Game 2 effort by Plainfiel...
Road to Redbird a little tougher for Payson-Seymour, Windsor-Stewardson-Strasburg
Despite heavy graduation losses, Payson-Seymour still has its sights set on repeating as Class 1A state champion. By Randy WhalenSpecial to Illprepvb.comLet's do it again, like we did last fall.With the postseason opening this week, that could be the rallying cry for last year’s two Class 1A state finalist girls’ volleyball teams. Last fall, Payson Seymour capped off an incredible run during which it only lost three sets all year with a 25-12, 27-25 victory over Windsor-Stewardson-Strasburg in the title match at Redbird Arena on the campus...
‘Relentless’ Marist bounces back from rare loss to bury Nazareth
Marist's Katie Mather, Avery Jedry, Camryn Hannah, Maddie Arundel and Mairead Boyle. By Randy WhalenSpecial to Illprepvb.comMarist’s girls volleyball team, which has dropped only four matches during the past two seasons, obviously isn't used to losing.But earlier this week, a loss to Benet Academy may have lit the spark under the RedHawks as they prepare to defend their Class 4A state championship.It certainly looked like it Thursday as the RedHawks dominated all areas in knocking off No. 2 Nazareth 25-14, 25-14 in the final East Suburban ...
Unofficially, Montini wins at Latin; Galena (sans Wills) falls to Lena-Winslow
After sitting out Friday over safety concerns, Montini went 4-0 Saturday at the Latin tournament. By Randy Whalen Special to Illprespvb.com The 39th Annual Latin Invitational didn't go exactly as scheduled. But when all was said and done, many smaller school volleyball teams got a taste of some good competition as the postseason approaches. The tournament was scheduled for eight teams with pool play starting Friday. However, when the verdict in the case involving Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke in the shooting death of 17-year-o...
Barrington wins MSL title after mounting improbable Game 1 rally
Barrington won its 12th Mid-Suburban League championship and first since 2013 by defeating Buffalo Grove 25-22, 23-25, 25-21 after trailing 9-0 in the first set Wednesday. Coaches consider timeouts precious commodities, to be used judiciously and often to prevent a lead from slipping away. Or not. Barrington coach Michelle Jakubowski burned two timeouts in the first 8 points of the opening set of the Mid-Suburban League Girls Volleyball Championship match Wednesday at Buffalo Grove. She took her first timeout after the Bison sco...