The 2026 IHSA boys high school volleyball tournament kicks off Friday and continues through the championship game at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 6, at Bolingbrook High School. (Photo by Dave Ruggles) By Phil BrozynskiIllprepvb.com Editor We know at least one of the teams that will be there. Now it’s time to figure out who the other seven will be. The IHSA boys volleyball tournament kicks off Friday throughout Chicagoland and this side of the Mississippi River east of the St. Louis metro area, with the 2026 champion crowned sometim...

Six players from SPVB 18 Elite, including five juniors, will compete for SPVB 17 Elite at the AAU Girls National Volleyball Championships in Orlando, Florida, in late June. By Phil BrozynskiIllprepvb.com Editor It’s time to do a little housekeeping and catch up with the girls club season (and we did have some catching up to do) before we dive headfirst into the IHSA boys high school tournament starting Friday.So, without further delay, here is the final Michio Chicago VBA/Illprepvb.com Girls 18s Club Rankings: Michio Chicago VBA/I...

Glenbard West sophomore Lukas Wallin (15) looks to go over the block of Marist junior middle blocker Michael Forbes (6) during the championship match of the Lincoln-Way East Invitational on Saturday. (Photo by Dave Ruggles) (Updated, 2:13 p.m., Tuesday, May 5)By Phil BrozynskiIllprepvb.com EditorCan one day make a difference? The IHSA is expected to release the brackets, seedings and regional pairings for the boys volleyball tournament later this week. Seedings will be based on the IHSA RPI Formula (40/40/20) where RPI = (0.40 x team’s w...

Dom Pietruszewski (5) and Bolingbrook return to Southwest Prairie Conference play when they host Minooka on Thursday. (Photo by Dave Ruggles) By Phil BrozynskiIllprepvb.com EditorWarts.Just about everybody’s got ‘em. Few are immune.They can manifest themselves in a number of ways. Inconsistency. Inexperience. Lack of height. Lack of depth. Youth. Illness. Injuries.Warts. At any given moment, they can even appear out of nowhere.Think a team is on an upswing? Then, suddenly, the warts materialize. Think a team is trending downward? Then,...

Bolingbrook libero Ryan Saravia (11) reaches to make a dig in the Raiders' victory over the hosts at Saturday's West Aurora invitational. (Photo by Dave Ruggles) By Phil BrozynskiIllprepvb.com Editor Ch-ch-ch-changes. There’s plenty of them in the latest Michio Chicago VBA/Illprepvb.com Boys H.S. Rankings. Play your way in. Play your way out. Shuffling at the top. Juggling at the bottom. But some things never change. Like the IHSA awarding a team a virtual bye in their sectional assignments. Yes, it’s good to be the king. At...

Richard Barwicki and Lane Tech broke the Public League's 32-year quartertfinal winless drought at the IHSA tournament last spring. (Photo by Dave Ruggles) By Phil BrozynskiIllprepvb.com Editor Putting together a preseason poll is part guesswork, part conjecture and part Ouija board.However, looking back at last year’s preseason pool, we did pick the final two teams – Marist and Glenbard West – correctly at Nos. 1-2. The rest of the poll? Eh.We did have IHSA quarterfinalists Lake Park and Wheaton Warrenville South in the top 10, San...

The qualifier season kicks into high gear for many Illinois girls club teams with the Mideast Qualifier next weekend in Indianapolis. (Photo by Dave Ruggles) By Phil BrozynskiIllprepvb.com Editor It’s time to do a little housekeeping and catch up with the girls club season (and did we ever have some catching up to do) before we dive headfirst into the Illinois boys high school season that started Monday.So, without further adieu, here are the latest Michio Chicago VBA/Illprepvb.com Girls Club Rankings: Michio Chicago VBA/Illpre...

Despite its loss to MOD B18 Blue at last weekend's 2026 Mizuno SPVB Presidents Day Challenge, its first loss in four head-to-head meetings with the MOD squad, 630 Volleyball 18-1 retained its No. 1 ranking in the Michio Chicago VBA/Illprepvb.com Boys Clyb Rankings heading into the IHSA boys spring season. (Photos courtesy of @RavenswoodUSA) By Phil BrozynskiIllprepvb.com EditorIn the famous words of Gomer Pyle, USMC, “Surprise, surprise, surprise.”Save for a few here and there, boys club teams have broken camp to get ready for the I...

Girls club tournaments heat up again over the Presidents' Day holiday weeekend. (Photo by Dave Ruggles) Notice: You may not distribute, modify, transmit, reuse, re-post, or use the content of the Site for public or commercial purposes, including the text, images, audio, and video, without Illprepvb.com, LLC’s written permission. By Phil BrozynskiIllprepvb.com EditorThe girls club season is in full swing and it’s time to take our first swing at ranking the top teams in each age group.Of course, the rankings are based on a small sample...

Sports Performance 18 Elite sophomore Edison Ah-Yo and his teammates are among the teams scheduled to compete at the 2026 AAU/JVA Brew City Battle 14U-18U Open/Premier at the Baird Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on January 31-February 1. By Phil BrozynskiIllprepvb.com EditorWe’ve got some catching up to do.It’s been a few weeks since we last released our Michio Chicago VBA/Illprepvb.com Boys Club Rankings of the 2025-26 season, but there have been few changes in the interim. The leaders in all four age groups remain the same and none a...