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. “...

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...

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

Katie Erdmann of tiny Forreston (back row, second from right) led the state in kills last fall. Now she's looking to take her game to the next level. People’s reactions range from stoic to surprised when Katie Erdmann tells people she goes to tiny Forreston High School (enrollment: 246), nestled in the northwest corner of Illinois some 30 miles west of Rockford. “They don’t really joke about it, but they always ask me how many people are in my class,” she said. “When I tell them about 50, they say, ‘Oh, my goodness.’ “Yes … I know ...

SPVB B18 Elite features (front row, from left) Albert Atczylo (Hinsdale South), Carter Stenmark (Naperville Central), Frederick Halper (Downers Grove North), Ryan Swartz (Glenbard West) and Kevin Lamp (Lake Forest), and (back row, from left) Joshua Gottlieb (Wheaton Warrenville South), Benett Schreiner (Wheaton North), Danny Risner (West Aurora), Rico Wardlow (Bolingbrook), Hunter Bailey (Timothy Christian) and Kevin Kauling (Neuqua Valley). This is the season SPVB B18 Elite has been pointing toward since finishing second in the 16 Open ...

SPVB 16 Elite features (front row, from left) Brooklyn Borum (Sterling), Emily Wilson (Joliet Catholic), Ariel Amaya (Plainfield North), Breelyn Borum (Sterling) and Zayna Meyer (Wheaton Warrenville South), and (back row, from left) Lauren Nyong (Aurora Christian), Leah Bylut (Shepard), Alexis Rodriguez (Sterling) and Ellie Hall (Naperville North). Missing is Abbey Clarke (Oswego East). No matter what the sport, no matter what the season, twins Breelyn and Brooklyn Borum of Sterling have been competing against and with each other as long a...