MOD Elite B15 Blue finished third in the 15 Open division at last weekend's The Socal Cup: The Open Championship in Anaheim, California. On the home page is SPVB B18 Elite, which finished third in the 18 Open division in California, best among all entries from Illinois. By Phil BrozynskiIllprepvb.com Editor Just about everybody in Illinois flew a little more than 2,000 miles to compete at The Socal Cup: The Open Championship in Anaheim, California, last weekend. But their next trip will be considerably shorter.Illinois boys’ club t...
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...
Watkins remembers, rallies Lyons Township past Lockport at Argo Invite
Led by Joe Watkins (18, back row, third from left), Lyons defeated Lockport to win the Argo Invite Saturday in Summit. https://youtu.be/Ra4abzYr-SU By Phil BrozynskiIllprepvb.com EditorJoe Watkins’ memory might be a little hazy, but there’s nothing wrong with his game.With Lyons trailing Lockport 15-13 midway through the third set of the Argo Invite championship match, Watkins strung together three successive kills to ignite a 12-8 closing run that gave the boys in royal blue and gold a 25-23, 15-25, 25-23 victory and the tournament ti...
Benet, IC Prep move up in latest 1st Alliance VBC/Illprepvb.com rankings
Kirsten Krammer (15) and the Benet Academy Redwings climbed two spots in this week's Class 4A rankings after winning the Wheaton Classic championship Saturday. (Photo by Dave Ruggles) Oh, that IHSA has a sense of humor. The sectional pairings were released last week, and among the not-so-surprising surprises (?) were the assignments of private school powers and 2021 2A semifinalists (Lombard) Montini and Chicago Christian to the same supersectional. Of course, newly crowned No. 1-ranked IC Catholic Prep and the Abby VanderWal-led...
Thunderbolts extinguish the Cardinals' candles with an explosion of aces
Plainfield North (far court) travels to Homewood-Flossmoor Tuesday while Glenbard West (near court) entertains Oak Park-River Forest. (Photo by Dave Ruggles) By Randy WhalenSpecial to Illprepvb.comWith Southwest Suburban Conference play opening next week, the Andrew boys’ volleyball team knows it has to bring its A game.Well, to tune up, the Thunderbolts brought their A game -- as in aces – Monday against Eisenhower. Defensive specialist Drew Schissler served six of them and Andrew had 11 aces overall during its 25-8, 25-11 victory over the...
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 is best at East; Red Devils have fun, drop Dukes at York
Hinsdale Central's Carter Lyons delivers one of his 10 kills against York Saturday in Elmhurst. (Phiotos by Dave Ruggles) By Randy WhalenSpecial to Illprepvb.comGlenbard West is ready for all challengers.The top-ranked Hilltoppers showed that by handing Indiana's top-ranked team, Roncalli (Indianapolis, Indiana) its first loss of the season, 25-23, 25-23, Saturday in the title match of the 30th Annual Lincoln-Way East Invitational.It was the 22nd straight victory for Glenbard West (23-1). Roncalli (26-1), which was the Indiana state runner-...
Illprepvb.com presents 70 heavenly players in the freshman Class of 2026
Montini's 5-11 freshman middle hitter Francesca Lorenzo is part of a young lineup that could challenge for another Class 2A championship this fall. On the home page is St. Charles North's outside hitter Haley Burgdorf, one of the leading attackers in the Class of 2026. (Photos by Dave Ruggles) Today, we complete our look at some of the top players in Illinois by listing (alphabetically) players in the Class of 2026.The list features players who are making an impact on their high school varsity teams this fall – either in the starting r...
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...