Middle hitter Josh Weyerhauser (9) and his Adversity B18 Adidas teammates won the 18 Open Silver bracket at last weekend's 2022 Boys Winter Volleyball Championship at McCormick Place. (Photo by Dave Ruggles) Will it be the last “stay-cation” for several suburban Chicago and out-of-state clubs?The 2022 Boys Winter Volleyball Championship wrapped up Monday at McCormick Place, but at least some of the conversation over the weekend centered on the move by many boys’ clubs across the country away from the USAV junior national championship to...

York's 6-7 sophomore Luke Shorter (22) tries to drive the ball past Hinsdale Central defenders Matthew Hughes (25) and Emmanuel Jurineack (14) during Saturday's tournament in Elmhurst. (Photo by Dave Ruggles) Takeaways from last week?After last weekend's showing at Lincoln-Way East, it's becoming more apparent that the IHSA championship is Glenbard West’s to lose.The field of bonafide challengers continues to dwindle.There is growing sentiment for a return to in-person sectional seeding.Not all sectionals are created equal.Some sectio...

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...

Teams like unranked Wheaton North will get a fresh start when the IHSA tournament begins tonight. (Photo by Dave Ruggles) Even if you were paying attention, based on the organization’s fixation on football you probably didn’t know there was an IHSA girls’ volleyball tournament beginning this week.A television show to present pairings? Endless tweets? Shutting down the website for an entire day so as not to interrupt people going to the website to check out the pairings? An early sneak peek for the press so they can beat their deadlines...

Mother McAuley junior outside hitter Ellie White (8) was named the tournament MVP after leading the Mighty Macs to the championship of the ASICS Challenge last weekend. (Photo by Dave Ruggles) It was a hiccup. Mother McAuley, which lost back-to-back matches to Marist and Assumption (Louisville, Kentucky) heading into last weekend’s ASICS Challenge, rediscovered its mojo Saturday by beating Hamilton (Sussex, Wisconsin), Skutt Catholic (Omaha, Nebraska) and Notre Dame Academy (Park Hills, Kentucky) to win the 24-team event. “We hav...

The qualifier season really picks up following last weekend's Mideast Qualifier in Indianapolis with local teams travelling from Missouri to Florida to Las Vegas to earn bids to USAV nationals. (Phoot by Dave Ruggles). By Phil BrozynskiIllprepvb.com Editor‘Tis the season …… to compete in a USAV national qualifier.Last weekend’s Mideast Qualifier in Indianapolis, Indiana, was just the tip of the iceberg for USAV qualifiers. Coming up are the Sunshine Classic, the Red Rock Rave, the Show Me qualifier, the Lone Star Classic, the Windy Ci...

Adversity G18 Adidas had to win its final match last weekend at the Ohio Valley 18s Qualifier in Columbus, Ohio, to earn a bid to the USAV Girls 18s Junior National Championship. In the immortal words of Tina Turner, Adversity G18 Adidas “never ever do nothing nice and easy.”Certainly not last weekend while trying to secure a bid to the USAV Girls 18s Junior National Championship in Phoenix, Arizona, on April 22-24, while competing at the Ohio Valley 18s Qualifier in Columbus, Ohio.Cancelled flights. Driving through a snow storm....

You need to break out your yellow hardhats when your school's biggest rival shows up at your door on the south side of Chicago. There are a number of big games on the schedule tonight – Hartsburg-Emden vs. Jacksonville Routt as Stags coach Jennifer Hayes goes for win No. 700, Pleasant Plans vs. Springfield Lutheran in the Sangamon County, Tolono Unity vs. St. Teresa.Later this week, the annual Asics Challenge is scheduled for Friday and Saturday at Mother McAuley. The tournament has been the playground for Louisville Assumption, but it...

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...