Former Downers Grove South star and IHSA champion Jackie Simpson-Kirr is in her fourth year as associate head coach at Clemson. Jackie Simpson-Kirr By Matt Le CrenSpecial to Illprepvb.comJackie Simpson-Kirr was only 13 years old when she figured out what she wanted to do with her life. She wanted to coach college volleyball.It was a lofty aspiration for someone who had just been cut from her seventh-grade volleyball team.But the Downers Grove native made it a reality. Simpson-Kirr blossomed into a 6-foot-1 setter at Downers Grove Sout...
Digtown 16 Red taking small steps at its first big tournament of the season
Digtown 16 Red is among the nearly 150 teams competing in the Presidents' Day Challenge hosted by Sports Performance at the Schaumburg Convention Center this weekend. https://youtu.be/YBY46NlzK3Y Volleyball is the No. 1 participation sport in the United States for high school-aged girls, and it continues to enjoy explosive growth, especially on the club level.Case in point? Digtown Volleyball Club in Yorkville.Three-year-old Digtown is the brainchild of Bob Coselman, whose daughter, Sydney, teamed with Sammi LaBolle to lead Sandwich ...
1st Alliance VBC presents an early look at some top boys club teams – 15s, 16s
Chicago Bounce 16 Red will look a lot like last year's 15 Red team with eight players back from the team that finished third at the Dennis Lafata Boys Bid Classic last winter. Boys’ volleyball clubs throughout Illinois (and southeastern Wisconsin) got some bad news earlier this month when Palos Courts was forced to postpone the start of the 2020-21 Palos Point Series due to the COVID-19 pandemic.The news got even worse this week when Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzer announced he would be shutting down indoor youth sports beginning Friday, al...
Montini's Billy Cyze doesn't let anything, including a rare birth defect, slow him down
Montini's Billy Cyze, flanked by his brothers Daniel (left) and Thomas (right), has learned to adapt to a rare birth defect, and in addition to being a valued member of the school's volleyball team, is a member of the school's robotics team and a licensed UAS pilot. Billy Cyze is a leader on Montini's robotics team, and holds an Unmanned Arial System (UAS) license that allows him to fly drones up to 55 pounds. By Matt Le CrenSpecial to Illprepvb.comMontini senior Billy Cyze can best be described as a problem-solver.The 6-foot-3 outside ...
Driven to near-suicide by a friend’s death, she finds hope, courage, and a cause
Former Downers Grove South setter Addy Karmik (11) struggled with anxiety, depression and Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following the death of club teammate Beth Dunlap. Former Downers Grove South setter Addy Karmik survived a suicide attempt and now advocates for mental health awareness. By Matt Le CrenSpecial to Illprepvb.comAddy Karmik suffered in silence for too long.Now she is determined to ensure others don’t do the same.Karmik, the former Downers Grove South setter who is an incoming freshman at the University of Wiscons...
VC United taking boys, girls volleyball to a new level in the Rockford area
VC United attracts boys and girls from throughout the Rockford and northwest Illinois areas, like 5-11 outside hitter Gracey Lovgren (17) from Stillman Valley. (Photo by Dave Ruggles) By Matt Le CrenSpecial to Illprepvb.comEric Schulze had been involved in club volleyball for two decades when he decided to put out his own shingle in 2017.He picked a good place to do it.Schulze was informed by some Rockford-area residents that an area club had dropped its boys’ program and asked if he wanted to help form a new one. At the time, he been coac...
Batavia earns USMC/AVCA academic award for the 23rd consecutive year
The 2019 Batavia varsity volleyball team has been awarded the United States Marines Corps (USMC)/American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award for the 2019-20 academic year. The 2019 Batavia varsity volleyball team has been awarded the United States Marines Corps (USMC)/American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award for the 2019-20 academic year. The team earned an impressive cumulative grade point average of 3.84 despite the move to remote learning during second semester. Batavia has won th...
Muisenga, Wrobel and Rodriguez are worth watching, and still waiting
Plainfield North's Ella Wrobel, Benet's Rachel Muisenga and Sterling's Lexi Rodriguez were recently named to Volleyball Magazine’s Girls 25 Underclassmen to Watch list. (Photo by Dave Ruggles) https://youtu.be/yhHxJD5w5aU Like many of her peers during these anything-but-typical times, Rachel Muisenga is doing her best to remain ready should the girls’ club volleyball season resume.Working out. Running when weather permits. Or a pick-up volleyball game in her backyard with older sisters Sarah (St. Francis/University of Chicago) who is...
A look at some of Illinois' top uncommitted girls in the classes of 2021-23
Illprepvb.com is creating a list of the top girls volleyball players in Illinois in the classes of 2021, 2022 and 2023 who have yet to commit to a college or university to continue their volleyball careers. (Photo by Dave Ruggles) Illprepvb.com is creating a list of the top players in Illinois in the classes of 2021, 2022 and 2023 who have yet to commit to a college or university to continue their volleyball careers. The following list includes players who compete at a very high level either for their high school or club teams. All par...
Facing a COVID-clouded future, Illinois girls’ 2020-21 volleyball season begins
Michio Chicago Volleyball Academy outside hitter Logan Grevengoed and her younger sister, Delaney, will have to wait a few months before taking the court for Chicago Christian. (Photo by Dave Ruggles) If this, then what?If that, then this.“We've got a whiteboard with all these different scenarios,” said Club 1 owner/girls director and Naperville Central head coach Brie Isaacson. “What we will do if this happens. What we will do if that happens.“This is a year we’re just going to have to roll with it,” she said.What promises to be anything ...