With minimal losses to graduation and players like Madi Malone and Mattie Chapman returning from last year's 40-2 Class 1A champion, Newark is a heavy favorite to repeat in 2019. (Photos by Dave Ruggles) School: Addison Trail Conference: West Suburban GoldHead coach: Dan StylerLast season’s highlights: 17-19 overall, 4-2 in conference (third place), fifth place (of 16 teams) at Metea Valley/Oswego tournament, third place (of eight teams) at Willowbrook tournament, lost to Glenbard North, 25-23, 25-22, in a Class 4A regional s...
Bulthuis, Chicago Christian soldier onward, but Timothy earns the win at night’s end
Six-foot-6 middle hitter Zach Bulthuis (No. 79, shown here playing with Ultimate B18 Gold), is enjoying this high school season with his Chicago Christian teammates. (Photo by Dave Ruggles) Chicago Christian's Zach Bulthuis will continue his playing career at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin. (Photo by Dave Ruggles). By Randy WhalenSpecial to Illprepvb.comZach Bulthuis had a big smile.He had every reason to. An outside hitter on the Ultimate B18 Gold team, Bulthuis never got to officially experience playing for his high school team...
The Latest 1st Alliance Volleyball Club/Illprepvb.com Boys High School Rankings
Niles West captured the title of its own 10-team invite Saturday. Glenbard West demonstrated its depth and dominance while winning Springfest at Glenbard East, Oak Park-River Forest rebounded from losses to Palatine and Marist to win the 24-team event at Warren, previously unranked Niles West handily won its own invite, and poll newcomer Hersey defeated Plainfield South to win at St. Charles East. The tournament schedule is light this week, but there are still some big individual showdowns with Lincoln-Way West hosting Minooka on Mon...
1st Alliance Volleyball Club/Illprepvb.com 2018 Week Seven Girls Rankings
Bloomington went 4-1 at the Scholastic Cup tournament, losing only to nationally-ranked Leon (Florida). 1st Alliance Volleyball Club/Illprepvb.com 2018 Week Seven Girls Rankings (Last week’s ranking in parenthesis) 1. Marist (1) 26-1 Ellie Kurpeikis, RedHawks stay Whitney Young. 2. Sterling (2) 26-0 Travels to Geneseo Tuesday for Big 12 showdown. 3. Benet (3) 23-4 Valentina Tabares, Kyla Kenney rule Scholastic Cup. 4. Sandburg (4) 24-4 Eagles able to hold off Natalie Mitchem, Bolingbrook. 5. Marian Catholic (5) 22-5 Thom...
Final Regular-Season 1st Alliance Volleyball Club/Illprepvb.com Boys High School Rankings
Marist is the No. 1 team in the 1st Allliance Volleyball Club/Illprepvb.com Boys Volleyball final regular-season rankings heading into the IHSA tournament. (Photos by Dave Ruggles) The postseason. A chance for redemption. Or an early start to summer. It all begins Monday. Here are the top 25 teams at the end of the regular season, and when and where you can find them as they begin the road to Hoffman Estates. (previous ranking in parentheses) 1. Marist 33-2 (1)Next: Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. vs. winner of Oak Lawn vs. Homewood-Flossmo...
No. 1-ranked Glenbard West rolls to championship at Glenbard East’s Springfest
Glenbard West rolled past Neuqua Valley to win Springfest on Saturday at Glenbard East. Despite the graduation of 6-foot-7 outside hitter Stone Metz and 6-10 middle hitter JT Ardell from last year’s third-place IHSA finisher, Glenbard West’s Ryan Swartz said this is probably the deepest team he has been a part of. So is the 6-2 senior outside hitter afraid of losing his job? “No,” Swartz said. “Not yet.” No. 1-ranked Glenbard West (9-0) showed off its depth at Saturday’s Springfest boys’ volleyball tournament at Glenbard East, running a...
Who is this week’s Illprepvb.com ‘Player of the Week?’
Each week during the season, Illprepvb.com will name a "Player of the Week" selected from nominations provided by Illinois volleyball coaches. Coaches can nominate their players by providing a 100-150 word summary of their achievement and a large quality headshot and sending it to illprepvb@gmail.com by noon on Sunday of the week for which they wish to nominate a player.This week’s “Player of the Week” is Barrington’s 6-foot-2 senior outside hitter Peyton Tilly, who led the West Division champion Fillies to their 12th Mid-Suburban League ch...
A step up in class will challenge St. Thomas More, new coach
Alabama recruit Allie Trame is the only senior who will take the floor this fall for St. Thomas More, which was bumped up to Class 3A by the IHSA's "success factor." (Photo by Dave Ruggles) St. Thomas More's Allie Trame pounded down 17 kills in the 2018 Class 3A third-place match. New coach. New class. Pretty much the same cast. Founded in the fall of 2000 with an enrollment of 18 students, (Champaign) St. Thomas More has recently established itself as a powerhouse in Illinois high school girls’ volleyball. In 2017, the Sabres ...
Sandburg clinches a share of SWSC title after beating Lockport
Sandburg, which took a backseat to Lincoln-Way East last year, is back on top the Southwest Suburban Conference after beating Lockport 25-20, 25-22 on the road Thursday. By Randy WhalenSpecial to Illprepvb.comBianca May was not on the Sandburg volleyball team last season when the Eagles’ eight-year SouthWest Suburban Conference Blue Division title streak was snapped.But the freshman setter was excited to be part of the team that started a new streak this season.May served a key stretch in the second set as No. 4-ranked Sandburg held off Lo...
Marist seeking history, the rest is all a mystery as IHSA tournament starts with a bang Monday
There are plenty of storylines to watch when the IHSA tournament gets underway Monday at 32 regional sites throughout the state. (Photos by Dave Ruggles) The IHSA boys volleyball tournament gets under way Monday, May 20, and when the dust settles May 31 with the eight sectional survivors gathering at Hoffman Estates, some of the best teams in Illinois will have been making vacation plans for more than a week. Meanwhile, there are many questions that will be answered along the way: Will all top eight sectional seeds reach the Elite Eight? W...