York junior outside hitter Emelyn Stettin (8) and the Dukes took down Hinsdale Central last week and have two matches this week before hosting Glenbrook South and Lyons next Monday and Tuesday. (Photo by Dave Ruggles) Short and sweet. That’s how we’ll keep the introduction to this week’s rankings. However, we would like to take this time to thank the folks at Rochester for their wonderful hospitality Saturday. We arrived unannounced (it was a late – actually early Saturday morning -- decision to make the 360-mile round trip) and th...

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...

Mother McAuley won five matches, four of them in three sets, to win the Louisville Invitational Volleyball Tournament last weekend. As one might expect after three weeks of play, there were a few changes in the rankings since our preseason poll came out in late August. But a few things did not change. Mother McAuley continues to rule Class 4A following its championship at the Louisville Invitational Volleyball Tournament last weekend at the KIVA Center in Louisville. The Mighty Macs broke a 15-15 tie in the third set to defeat (L...

Huntley, with four Division I recruits, is hoping to make a big splash in 2022. Rankings. Somebody’s got to do ‘em. So here we go. Another year, another best guess.Mother McAuley coach Jen DeJarld says her 2022 team is the strongest she’s had since the 2016 group that was declared national champion. But there’s no shortage of challengers, including Barrington, which returns nearly everybody from the team that finished third last fall.Elsewhere, Normal U-High and Illinois recruit Lily Barry claim the top spot in Class 3A, Pleasant Pla...

1st Alliance 17 Gold reigns atop the volleyball world in the 17 age group after winning the Open division at the 2022 USAV Girls Junior National Championship in Indianapolis. The girls club season ended last week and today’s rankings feature 1st Alliance Volleyball Club entries heading each of the 17s, 16s and 15s age groups. But all these girls will have little time to rest with the high school season starting in less than a month.Here are the final Michio Chicago VBA/Illprepvb.com Girls Club Rankings for 2021-22:17s1. 1st Alliance 17...

630 Volleyball 17-1's 10th place finish in Orlando last week was easily the highest by any Illinois entry in the 17 Open division. (Photo courtesy of AAU) Thursday’s wrap-up of the 2022 USAV Boys Junior National Championship at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, signaled the end of the 2021-22 boys’ club season.Led Nathan Finck (O'Fallon) and the Massey brothers -- 6-4 freshman Riley and 5-11 junior Trent (St. Louis DeSmet), Boys BSVBC 14-1 (Blue Steel, O'Fallon, Illinois) finished in second place in the 17 USA div...

SPVB 18 Kahl enjoyed a light moment during the 49th AAU GIrls Junior National Volleyball Championships in Orlando, Florida, last weekend. Some will soon be off to college to continue their playing careers. Others to focus on academics. Many have played their final competitive game of volleyball and will concentrate on pursuing careers in law, medicine, education or engineering, or perhaps the most noble and selfless profession of them all.The Class of 2022 provided us with unforgettable moments – both exhilarating and heartbreaking – an...

Junior Camryn Sheehan (3) and the O'Fallon Panthers figure to be one of Illinois' top teams in 2023. (Photos by Dave Ruggles) Who knew when Barrington took a one set to love lead over Glenbard West in the sectional championship match at Schaumburg, that would be as close as anyone would come to the Hilltoppers during their fourth tournament title run?Perhaps those pundits who picked rookie coach Charlie Spry’s guys No. 1 in the preseason were not so far off after all?Otherwise, it was business as usual for Christine Giunta-Mayer’s minio...

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...

After playing 22 games in 23 days and suffering its first loss since March 24, Glenbard West entertains West Suburban Silver foe Lyons on Tuesday. (Photo by Dave Ruggles) No sooner had many observers crowned Glenbard West as the inevitable IHSA champion than the Hilltoppers found themselves pushed to the brink by circumstance at the Northside Classic last weekend.All last weekend really proved is that if you take two of the top three players from even the best team in the land and put them on the shelf, it’s very difficult to beat an ...