By Randy Whalen Special to Illprepvb.com It's 39 in a row and it never gets old. According to the IHSA website, Mother McAuley has won a regional title every year since 1980. That includes what were then district championships in the early ‘80s. Well, the Mighty Macs continued that streak with a 25-13, 25-17 victory over the host Astros on Thursday in the title match of the Class 4A Shepard Regional in Palos Heights. No. 4 seeded McAuley (24-13) advances to the Eisenhower Sectional and will play a familiar foe, top-seeded Maris...
Benet rallies twice, aces Naperville North for third time
Benet defeated Naperville North 25-21, 26-24 to win the Plainfield North Class 4A Sectional. Hattie Monson figured enough was enough. The 5-foot-5 junior libero had watched Benet’s season end in the sectional each of her first two seasons at the school – a 25-23, 25-22 loss to Marist in a sectional semifinal in 2016 and a 25-20, 25-20 setback to Minooka in the sectional championship last year. So what was she feeling when Naperville North’s final kill attempt with the Redwings leading 25-24 in the second set sailed out? “It was ...
Benet takes Waubonsie Valley’s ‘best shot,’ Naperville North rolls
Top-seeded Benet advanced to the sectional finals at Plainfield North with a three-set win over Waubonsie Valley on Monday. Beating a team in straight sets is nice, but some victories don’t come that easy. “Before every game, (head coach Brad) Baker tells us it's going to be an hour-and-a-half,” said Benet's 5-foot-10 sophomore outside hitter Kyla Kenney. “We have to be prepared to play for an hour-and-a-half.” Ninety minutes must have seemed like an eternity for No. 2-ranked Benet (33-5) and its fans Monday, but the Redwings r...
Crystal Lake Central fights off Catholic Memorial to repeat at Jacobs
Crystal Lake Central repeated as Jacobs Invitational champion Saturday in Algonquin. Crystal Lake Central breathed a sigh of relief after fighting off four set points in Game 1 of the championship match against Waukesha (Wisconsin) Memorial Catholic Saturday at the Jacobs Invitational in Algonquin.But the Crusaders didn’t let the Tigers catch their breath in Game 2, and it was a change of mindset in the third game that powered the defending tournament champion Tigers to a 32-30, 19-25, 25-16 victory and the title of the 12-team tournamen...
1st Alliance Volleyball Club/Illprepvb.com 2018 Final Regular Season Girls Rankings
Norris City-Omaha-Enfield hopes to return to Redbird Arena after losing to Cobden in the 2017 sectional finals. 1st Alliance Volleyball Club/Illprepvb.com 2018 Final Regular Season Girls Rankings(Last week’s ranking in parenthesis. Rankings will not be updated again until after the state tournament.)1. Marist (1) 32-2Closes out regular season with big win over Nazareth. Next: vs. Bremen/Eisenhower winner Tuesday at Bradley-Bourbonnais.2. Benet (5) 30-5Puts Huntley loss in rearview mirror, beats Marist. Next: vs. Romeoville/Oswego Eas...
Sandburg victory leaves Lincoln-Way East feeling Blue
Lincoln-Way East's Kaleigh Ritter, Nicki Bechtold, Molly Skoda, Jessica Pappas and Hannah Kowlczyk. By Randy Whalen Special to Illprepvb.com A conference championship really isn't won by capturing the first league match of the season. If history is an indicator, however, the SouthWest Suburban Conference Blue Division race may be over. That's because Sandburg stymied defending conference champion Lincoln-Way East 25-19, 25-21 in the conference opener for both teams Thursday in Frankfort. It's the second straight season that the...
Benet finds there’s still some magic left in old ‘Alumni Gym’
Naperville Central's Grace Butler, Alexandra Vanwestrienen, Nicole Smith and Kayla Closset. There’s nothing like playing in your home gym to cure what’s been ailing you, even if it’s not really “home.”No. 4 Benet snapped a two-match losing streak Thursday in the school’s historic Alumni Gym, where the Redwings’ boys basketball team won a state-record 102 consecutive games from November 26, 1975 until January 24, 1987.Benet moved the varsity game to the old gym to make way for freshman “A” and “B” games in the main gym. The change of scen...
Sophomores Kenney, Muisenga push Benet past Minooka
No. 2-ranked Benet won its 12th consecutive regional title Thursday at Oswego East. Kyla Kenney was just a freshman on Benet’s varsity last year, but she remembers the 25-20, 25-20 season-ending loss to Minooka in the sectional finals. “We lost to them last year and in our gut we just wanted to get them back,” said the 5-foot-10 sophomore outside hitter. “We all put in the fight for it. It started with a pass, then I kept asking Ally (setter Van Eekeren) for the ball.” With the second set of Thursday’s championship game of the Oswe...
Familiar foes St. Ignatius, De La Salle advance to Reavis regional championship
Rita Grassano (middle) and St. Ignatius advanced to the Class 4A Reavis Regional championship match. Photo courtesy of St. Ignatius By Randy Whalen Special to Illprepvb.com This is the time of the season to be playing your best volleyball. That’s what St. Ignatius has been doing. The Wolfpack won for the 10th time in its past 14 contests and advanced to the title match of the Class 4A Reavis Regional with a 25-13, 25-19 victory over...
Selman, Naperville North earn another shot at Neuqua Valley
Naperville North advanced to the finals of its own regional with a 25-17, 25-8 victory over Lemont Tuesday. Will the third time be a charm? Or more heartbreak for Naperville North? The Huskies and DuPage Valley Conference rival Neuqua Valley advanced to the championship match of the Naperville North Class 4A Regional on Thursday by handily winning their semifinal matches Tuesday. Naperville North overwhelmed youthful Lemont 25-17, 25-8 in the first semifinal, while Neuqua Valley shrugged off a valiant Game 2 effort by Plainfiel...