The Latest 1st Alliance Volleyball Club/Illprepvb.com Boys Club Rankings

Photos by Dave Ruggles The 2019 Boys Winter Volleyball Championship at McCormick Place is complete and there’s been a few changes in the Illinois boys’ club rankings, but the top teams in each age group remain unchanged. Here’s a look at the latest boys’ club rankings: Boys Club Rankings (preseason ranking in parenthesis) 18s 1. Ultimate B18 Gold (1) Ultimate B18 Gold rallied after dropping the first set to defeat Pac6 18 Blue 19-25, 25-19, 15-13 in the 18 Open division title match Monday at the 2019 Boys Winter Volleyball Champi...

UNO Boys 18 Elite reaches Gold quarterfinals; Ultimate 18, Bounce 17 also advance

  Photos by Dave Ruggles By Randy Whalen Special to Illprepvb.com It was the signature win the UNO Boys 18 Elite team has been searching for. AJ Lewis, a 6-foot-4 outside hitter from Minooka, came up with 5 kills and an ace in the final set as UNO advanced to the Gold bracket of the 2019 Boys Winter Volleyball Championship with a thrilling 27-29, 27-25, 15-12 victory over SPVB B18 Elite Sunday at McCormick Place. UNO will play archrival Ultimate B18 Gold in a Gold quarterfinal Monday at 8:00 a.m. By finishing in the top eight, both...

Adversity, Ultimate, UNO, SPVB 18s, Bounce 17s perfect at Winter Championship

Ultimate B18 Gold is among 11 unbeatens remaining in the 18 Open division of the 2019 Boys Winter Volleyball Championship at McCormick Place. Adversity 18 Adidas ran into some adversity during the first game of its match against Club 1 B18 Skronkstrong Saturday at the 2019 Boys Winter Volleyball Championship at McCormick Place. But the Vernon Hills-based club bounced back to take Games 2 and 3, then upset No. 2 seeded Bay-to-Bay 18-1 in its final match of the day to join Ultimate B18 Gold, SPVB B18 Elite and UNO Boys 18 Elite amon...

South Side powerhouse Michio Chicago serves up volleyball ‘family’ style

Family is very important to Michio Chicago Volleyball Club co-founder and owner Diane Mikulskis. She believes that it is important that each player and their parents have a sense of belonging and that a small family atmosphere is critical to achieving that end.So you won’t find 60, 70 or 80 teams on the Michio Chicago volleyball rolls. The club, founded in 2010 and with facilities in Evergreen Park, keeps its membership at about 250 girls to ensure that each girl gets the best training possible, the best coaching possible, and each pl...

Ultimate B18 Gold seeks the ultimate redemption beginning this weekend

Ultimate B18 Gold is seeded third at this week's Boys' Winter Volleyball Championship at McCormick Place. Five times. Five times a team from Ultimate Volleyball Club in Frankfort has reached the championship match at the USA Volleyball Boys’ Junior National Championships. Five times, Ultimate came up short. Last year, it was Ultimate B17 Gold, which battled through the 17 Open field at the 2018 USA Volleyball Boys’ Junior National Championship in Phoenix, Arizona, before falling to Bay-to-Bay 17-1, 15-25, 25-22, 15-13, in the de...

The Latest 1st Alliance Volleyball Club/Illprepvb.com Girls Club Rankings

Here are the latest 1st Alliance Volleyball Club/Illprepvb.com Girls Club Volleyball Rankings as of January 13. (preseason ranking in parenthesis) 1. SPVB 18 Elite (1) SPVB 18 Elite picked up where it left off after winning the mythical national championship last year, opening the Great Lakes Power League Division I by going 4-0 – although it got a serious challenge from SPVB 16 Elite winning a 23-25, 29-27, 25-23, 25-23 squeaker. Plainfield Central’s 6-foot-6 outside hitter Taylor Landfair, who was the AAU 18 Open MVP last year, Bolin...

1st Alliance 16 Silver, Lions 15-1 roll through WCPL openers

Nine teams remained unbeaten after the first day of the Windy City Power League 15-16 Open division played at the 1st Alliance Training Center in Woodridge (formerly Sunsetters Volleyball Center) on Saturday. But none were as impressive as 1st Alliance 16 Silver. The girls from Western Springs coasted through their first three matches of the league, defeating Fusion 15 Red 25-13, 25-9, Ignite 15 Elite 25-13, 25-7, and Sky High Adidas 16-1 NS 25-20, 25-12. “We have a solid core,” said 1st Alliance 16 Silver coach Beth Baetzel. “...

Ultimate B18 Gold beats Pac6 to rule WVC; SPVB B18 Elite second in silver

Photos by Dave Ruggles Confidence. That’s all that was lacking from Ultimate B18 Gold in the first set of its title match against powerful Pac6 18 Blue out of Pacific Palisades, California, in the 18 Open division of the 2019 Boys Winter Volleyball Championship Monday at McCormick Place. “Yeah, they took it to us in the first set,” said Ultimate B18 Gold’s 6-foot-2 outside hitter Marty Jepsen from Marist. “I think we were just playing scared in the beginning, and that's not how we play. “We just really needed to pat each other o...

SPVB 18 Elite vs. SPVB 16 Elite highlights Day 2 of the Great Lakes Power League

Young Illini Elite 16 Cardinal, which features eighth-grader Kenna Wollard (front row, far left) and freshman Averie Hernandez of Normal West (top row, second from right), is 3-1 after two days of the Great Lakes Power League. The two best teams perhaps in any gymnasium in Illinois collided early Sunday in the Great Lakes Power League Division I. SPVB 18 Elite, which returns three players from the team that won the AAU national championship in the 18 Open division last summer, and SPVB 16 Elite, which features nearly all the players w