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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Who are some of the top unsigned players in the Class of 2019?
Illprepvb.com is creating a list of the top seniors in Illinois who have yet to commit to a college or university to continue their volleyball careers. If you know of anyone who should be on this list or anyone on the list who has recently committed, contact us at Illprepvb@gmail.com. Class of 2019 Zora Barnett, 5-11, MB, Oak Park-River Forest/1st Alliance VBC Kamryn Brown, 6-0, RS/S, Kenwood/1st Alliance VBC Jade Casper, 5-11, MB/OH, Downers Grove North/1st Alliance VBC Cormaria Cooksey, 5-6, OH/RS, Homewood-Flossmoor/Sports Perfo...
Who are some of the biggest winners, losers under the IHSA’s new classification system?
Despite an enrollment of just 382 students, Belleville Althoff will be competing in Class 4A for the next two years. By Phil Brozynski and Daniel BlakemanOK, boys and girls. It’s time to break out your slide rules, Ouija boards, Magic 8-Balls and super computers.Last week, the IHSA released information about its new two-year classification cycle, which was adopted by the IHSA Board of Directors in June. The classification cycle covers the 2019-20 and 2020-21 school years.During those two periods, classifications in multi-class sports such ...
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. “...
SPVB B18 Elite seeking to finish the work it started two years ago
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 ...
VC United 181 Elite’s Erdmann hopes to break out of small-school stereotype
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 ...