Lincoln-Way East's Jared Byas was named the Southwest Suburban Conference Player of the Year and led the Griffins to the IHSA championship game. (Photos by Dave Ruggles) Today, we are pleased to announce the 2022 Michio Chicago VBA/Illprepvb.com Boys All-State Volleyball Team, our fourth annual effort to honor the best boys high school volleyball players in Illinois.Coaches were invited to nominate players to the all-state team. Team members were selected based upon their accomplishments on the court and as high school student-ath...
Plainfield East beats the Saturday blues, tunes out Hinsdale South at Richards
Plainfield East's Tyler Volling (21) was named the MVP at the Richards tournament. (Photos by Dave Ruggles) By Phil BrozynskiIllprepvb.com EditorSaturdays have not been kind to Plainfield East.“We dominate that narrative,” said Plainfield East’s 6-2 junior setter/rightside Nathan Grutza.Heading into the quarterfinals Saturday at Richards, Plainfield East was 20-1 on weekdays but a pedestrian 5-4 on Saturdays.The Bengals went 1-2 on Saturday at Marist (losing to Marist and Downers Grove South to finish fourth), 2-1 at Smack Attack (losing to...
Short-handed Glenbard East hangs tough, but falls short against Downers South
Wednesday's rematch between Glenbard East and Downers Grove South did not quite have the drama of their first meeting this season at the Springfest tournament earlier this month. (Photo by Dave Ruggles) By Phil BrozynskiIllprepvb.com EditorGlenbard East tried to keep it close.But let's be Real. With their best attacker and six-rotation player seated on the bench nursing an injury he aggravated in practice Tuesday, the Rams didn’t quite have enough firepower Wednesday to overcome Downers Grove South in Downers Grove.Downers Grove South, whic...
Chicago Christian's Nolan Krygsheld brings the hot sauce, earns his wings
Metea Valley's Bartosz Chmielewski (6) drives a kill past a Loyola defender during the Tiger Class at Wheaton Warrenville South. (Photo by Dave Ruggles) By Randy WhalenSpecial to Illprepvb.comNolan Krygsheld earned his wings.The Chicago Christian rightside hitter had 13 kills and 5 blocks to help rally the Knights to an 18-25, 25-19, 25-18 victory over Riverside-Brookfield in a Metro Suburban Conference battle of unbeatens Tuesday in Palos Heights. Afterward, he was going to get 10 wings at Buffalo Wild Wings courtesy of Jeff Dryfh...
Glenbard West wins York summer league, but there's more to summer than that
Joliet West had a busy but productive summer, winning the summer league at UNO Volleyball Cub and a tournament hosted by Joliet Junior College. By Phil BrozynskiIllprepvb.com EditorSummertime, and the livin’ is easy … if you happen to be a spectator.Girls who only a few weeks ago turned in their club jerseys have been immersed in an endless series of high school summer camps, summer leagues, college camps, skill camps, college visits, family vacations, etc., etc. etc.Wednesday in Elmhurst, the schedule became slightly less frantic for the e...
It's all in the genes for Wyszynski, Tiger Classic champion Glenbrook North
Lincoln-Way West's Logan Clarida (20) tries to drive the ball past Glenbrook North's Paul Wyszynski (10) and Grant Kosla (16) during Saturday's championship match of the Tiger Classic at Wheaton Warrenville South. (Photo by Dave Ruggles). By Phil BrozynskiIllprepvb.com EditorSomewhere, Grego Mendel, the father of modern genetics, is smiling. “It’s a funny story,” said Glenbrook North’s 5-8 Paul Wyszynski. “I got my vertical to 39 inches with only genetics. I eventually got it up to 43, 44 inches, and then I started working out and I haven...
Marist is right back where they (almost) started from in Michio/Illprepvb rankings
Can Sandburg spring some upsets in the IHSA tournament like it did by beating Lyons for fifth place at Richards? (Photo by Dave Ruggles) In the immortal words of The Great One, “And away we go.” The IHSA tournament kicks off Monday at 32 regional sites across Illinois. Leading the hopefuls is Marist, which returns to the No. 1 ranking after a three-week absence following its victory over Glenbard West on May 12.Unlike most regular-season tournaments that afford the better teams a greater opportunity to meet further down the bracket t...
It's the same old story … IHSA tournament an anti-climactic exercise in frustration
Occasionally, you get lucky and the two best teams in the state meet in the championship match. But neither top-ranked St. Francis nor No. 2 Marist even advanced to the 2021 quarterfinals after having to run a gauntlet in their respective sectionals. (Photo by Dave Ruggles) By Phil BrozynskiIllprepvb.com Editor Hey, boys volleyball fans, let’s play “Pick the Winner.”Can you pick the winner of the De La Salle sectional? Morton, Acero/Garcia, Acero/Soto, Catalyst/Maria, Cristo Rey Jesuit, De La Salle, Dunbar, Hancock, Horizon/Southwest,...
SPVB 18 Elite, Kahl come up short in AAU title bids; Top Flight 18 Elite takes fifth
SPVB 18 Kahl was all smiles Friday at the AAU Girls National Volleyball Championships in Orlando on Friday, but those smiles turned upside-down after Kahl lost in the 18 Premier championship match to FarOut 18 Black. Orlando, Florida -- Things could have gone better for Sports Performance VBC at the 49th AAU Girls National Volleyball Championships in Orlando, Florida, on Saturday.Sports Performance 18 Elite advanced to the championship match of the 18 Open division, while SPVB 18 Kahl reached the title bout in the 18 Premier division.Both t...
(Almost) everything you need to know about the 2022 girls' season from M-Z
Montini completed a near-perfect 2021 season with a Class 2A championship , but graduation took a heavy toll on the Broncos, claiming four starters from Trish Samolinski's crew. (Photo by Dave Ruggles) By Phil BrozynskiIllprepvb.com EditorThe real fun begins tomorrow, so today Illprepvb.com takes a look at some of the teams and players who will be gracing gymnasiums throughout Illinois this fall with their athleticism, cohesiveness and determination.Due to the number of teams responding to our request for information and the amount of info...