Naperville North bid farewell to eight seniors Thursday while wrapping up a 10-0 season with a 25-16, 25-9 victory over visiting Waubonsie Valley. Naperville North has enjoyed some great success during head coach Jen Urban’s tenure.There was the 2004 team that went 34-6 and reached the Class AA supersectional before losing to Downers Grove South, 25-20, 23-25, 25-23. There was the 31-7 team in 2006 led by future University of Illinois All-American Colleen Ward.And there was last year’s team, which overcame the loss of 6-foot-2 outside hitt...
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...
Illprepvb.com presents the 20 All-Time Best Illinois Girls Volleyball Teams, Nos. 16-20
Payson-Seymour's 2017 team was one of the most dominant Class 1A champions in IHSA history, going three sets in only one of its 41 victories. There have been many great teams throughout the history of IHSA girls’ high school volleyball – undefeated champions, once-beaten champions, and some teams that did not win a state championship despite their pedigree.Today, Illprepvb.com begins its countdown of the 20 All-Time Best Illinois Girls' High School Volleyball Teams.The task was monumental, to be sure. There have been 84 championship tea...
Metea Valley has it their way at Kaneland with MacDonald (sort of) out of the picture
Metea Valley defeated host Kaneland to win the Knight Invite on Saturday. https://youtu.be/P-PnPYAbFDA By Phil BrozynskiIllprepvb.com EditorAgustin “Gus” Colima was on the hot seat Saturday in Kaneland.It’s a good thing he had Kira Hutson watching his back.Hutson, a 6-4 junior outside hitter who is committed to Florida, had 21 kills, 3 blocks and an assist to lead Metea Valley (24-2) to a 25-18, 15-25, 25-14 victory over host Kaneland Saturday in the championship match of the Knight Invite.Junior outside hitter Annabelle Troy added 8 ...
Torres setting a torrid pace for Oswego East despite Tuesday’s loss at Plainfield North
Oswego East, shown here earlier in the year during the Joliet West invitational, is rebuilding around some young players after last year's senior-fueled run to a regional title game. (Photos by Dave Ruggles) Thirteen kills and a block.A great match for most players, but almost pedestrian-like numbers for Oswego East’s 6-foot-2 junior outside hitter Anthony Torres. Oswego East's record-setting junior Anthony Torres. Torres has emerged from the shadows of Cade and Collin Harrison and Jahari Winkfield, three 2018 graduates who led the Wo...
Simpson-Kirr achieves a young girl's dream: coaching college volleyball
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 ...
Illprepvb.com announces 2019 Player, Team, Coach of the Year and First Team All-State
Huntley's Taylor Jakubowski, who concluded her stellar four-year varsity career as Illinois' second all-time assist leader, is the 2019 Illprepvb.com Player of the Year. (Photo by Dave Ruggles) Today, we are pleased to announce the Illprepvb.com 2019 Girls First Team All-State Volleyball Team, our Player of the Year, Coach of the Year and Team of the Year. Coaches across Illinois were invited to nominate players to the Illprepvb.com all-state team. Team members were selected based upon their accomplishments on the court and in the classroom...
Mission not impossible: Fresh faces, coaching staff attract players to new club
Mission Volleyball Club enjoyed a successful competitive debut at the Wisconsin Juniors Pre-Season Kick-Off at the Lake View RecPlex in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin. By Matt Le CrenSpecial to Illprepvb.com Mission Volleyball Club was initially conceived as a rebranding of Club Fusion's branch operation in Marengo before becoming its own entity. If you open it, will they come?That’s the question for anyone thinking of starting a new volleyball club.For Mission Volleyball Club, the answer has been a resounding, “yes.”Over 200 athletes ...
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...