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Where are Illinois' top boys volleyball recruits headed? (updated 5/25)

Elijah Fleming of Bolingbrook and Sports Performance has committed to Lourdes University in Ohio. (Photo by Dave Ruggles) Illprepvb.com is creating a list of the top boys players in Illinois from the Class of 2021 and beyond who have committed to a college or university to continue their volleyball careers. If you are a coach, club director or parent and know of a player who should be on this list, please contact us at Illprepvb@gmail.com.Class of 2021Josh Albers, 6-3, S, Rockford Guilford/VC United VBC, Rockford UniversityMatt Arens, 6-5,...

Where are Illinois' top girls' volleyball recruits headed? (updated 7/16)

Nadia Goich (17, far court), a 6-foot-1 middle blocker from Lockport and 1st Alliance Volleyball Club, has committed to the University of New Hampshire. (Photo by Dave Ruggles) Illprepvb.com is creating a list of the top players in Illinois in the Classes of 2021 and 2022 who have committed to a college or university to continue their volleyball careers. All coaches and club directors have been invited to provide the names of their players who should be on the list. The attached list features the names of players that have been submitted ...

SPVB 16 Elite is likely to face some adversity as it seeks to repeat last season's success

SPVB 16 Elite, which added five new faces to the roster that finished second in the nation as 15s last summer. Question: Which was the only team from Illinois to reach an open division championship at the 2019 USA Volleyball Junior National Championships in Dallas, Texas, last summer?It wasn’t Ultimate B18 Gold, which won the 2019 Boys Winter Volleyball Championships at McCormick Place on January 19-21 and topped the final Illprepvb.com boys club rankings. The boys from the south side finished 10th at nationals.It wasn’t Chicago Bounce 17 R...

Boys' club volleyball season takes center stage with B18-Palos Point Series #3

Chicago Bounce 18 Red defeated Ultimate B18 Gold, 25-23, 20-25, 15-11, in its opener Saturday at Palos Courts to ensure a return trip to Bracket A on Sunday. Most coaches like to break down the boys’ club volleyball seasons into three parts – the preseason, the qualifier season and nationals.The preseason continued Saturday at Palos Courts in Palos Heights with the B18-Palos Point Series #3.The B18-Palos Point Series will wrap up Sunday before breaking for the holidays with a couple of newcomers joining holdovers Future 18 Elite, UNO Boys 1...

Illprepvb.com dusts off the crystal ball with a look at the 2020 girls' season

(Photos by Dave Ruggles) Which teams will have firepower aplenty come the fall of 2020? Will Decatur St. Teresa and Breese Mater Dei meet for a second consecutive year in the IHSA Class 2A championship match? The IHSA’s arbitrary “rolling of the peas” could be the only impediment.Will Benet repeat in Class 4A one year after the Redwings prevented Marist from winning a third consecutive IHSA championship? Can Sterling join St. Francis as the only teams to three-peat in 3A? Can Norris City-Omaha-Enfield get back to Redbird Arena without Emile...

Sterling connection has Fusion 17 Red thinking big during the 2020 club season

The addition of four players from Sterling's Class 3A championship team, including Brooklyn Borum and Lexi Rodriguez, has Fusion 17 Red poised to make a run at a national championship in 2020. (Photos by Dave Ruggles) They’re getting the band back together in Batavia.Freshman Grace Egan, libero Lexi Rodriguez and twin sisters Brooklyn and Breelyn Borum teamed up to lead Sterling to its second consecutive IHSA Class 3A championship at Redbird Arena last fall.Now they’re getting together to try to go one better.The Sterling quartet, Belvider...

Adversity reaches into ranks of former Olympians to add new coach to staff

Adversity Volleyball Club has hired former Olympian and Pepperdine Hall of Famer Tom Sorensen to coach its boys and girls teams. (Photo by Dave Ruggles of Adversity 18 Adidas at last year's Winter Volleyball Championships) Tom Sorensen during his playing days at Pepperdine University. By Matt Le CrenSpecial to Illprepvb.comFew youth volleyball clubs can say they have a former Olympian on staff.Adversity is one of them.The Vernon Hills-based club recently hired Pepperdine Hall of Famer Tom Sorensen to coach both boys’ and girls’ teams. ...

Jakubowski goes the extra mile for inexperienced Huntley team

Seton Hall-bound setter Taylor Jakubowski has led Huntley to a 18-2 record despite the graduation of seven seniors and several key starters from last year's 35-4 team. (Photos by Dave Ruggles) (Editor's note: This story originally ran on October 9, 2019) Huntley's 5-foot-8 senior setter Taylor Jakubowski. Although no exacting scientific study has been published on the subject, some estimates put the distance a setter runs during a match at anywhere from a half-mile to three miles.Then there are days where a setter may feel like the...