Wheaton Warrenville South and sophomore Rebecca Bellows (17) hope to get another shot at top-seeded Loyola at this week's Wheaton Classic. (Photo by Dave Ruggles) Breese Mater Dei, Illprepvb.com’s No. 1 team in Class 2A, had its own way last weekend at the Crossroads Classic at Effingham. This weekend, it’s the big schools' turn.The annual Wheaton Classic begins Wednesday with pool play at Wheaton Warrenville South and Wheaton North. And if all goes well, the championship match should wrap up sometime Saturday before midnight.Loyola, un...

Fremd's Rian Baker (17) set the Vikings to the Mid-Suburban League championship Wednesday. (Photos by Dave Ruggles) Et ludos incipere. (That’s Latin for “Let the games begin.” Fr. Puchalski would be proud). 13675...

1st Alliance 17 Silver finished seventh in the 17 Open division at last weekend's Northern Lights Qualifier in Omaha, Nebraska. When they were good, they were exceptionally good. When they were not as good, you had to take it with a grain of salt.Illinois’ 17s proved to be a mixed bag last weekend at the Northern Lights Qualifier in Omaha, Nebraska, and the Central Zone Invitational in Indianapolis, Indiana. Nevertheless, given that it was the first time out of the house for many Illinois clubs, the results were promising.Making the bi...

That's what friends are for. Adversity G18 Adidas not won the 21 Nike Mideast Qualifier to snag an Open bid to nationals, their victory paved the way for Fusion 18 Red, which finished fifth at both the qualifier and the Great Lakes Regional, to receive a "trickle down" bid in the American division. 319 miles. That’s the distance Kayla Daros’ family drove Saturday afternoon moments after final volley of Club Fusion 18 Red's match at the 21 Nike Mideast Qualifier in Louisville, Kentucky, and St. Charles East’s opening tip at St. Franc...

Plainfield North's Ella Wrobel (17, far right) is widely considered the best player in the state and will join Big Ten power Wisconsin after graduating this spring. (Photo by Dave Ruggles) You know the season is thisclose when somebody starts asking about rankings. So here we go. Maybe not the answer they’re looking for, but by all calculations, our best guess.Marist, Illprepvb.com’s No. 1 Class 4A team in the preseason in 2018 and again in 2019, is the preseason favorite in 4A again this fall. Marist went on to win it all in 2018, b...

Zayna Meyer (left) and Wheaton Warrenville South rode some mid-season changes to the IHSA Class 4A finals at Redbird Arena. (Photo by Dave Ruggles) The 2019 season is in the record books.Newark and Sterling repeated. Benet denied Marist’s bid to three-peat. St. Teresa ruled Class 2A. But once again, the tournament reinforced the idea that the final eight teams in each class, if not the final 16, should be seeded, and the “rolling of the peas” abandoned. And while they’re at it, “geographic representation” should be trashed, too.The...

All work and no play makes for a very long day, so these Eastside Volleyball Club 16U Thunder girls took time out to enjoy pizza night at Brienzo's Wood Fired Pizza in Peoria Heights. Fox Force Five?Any fan of Quentin Tarantino and “Pulp Fiction” will remember the fictional TV series pilot that starred Mia Wallace (Uma Thurman), which she referred to as her “15 minutes.” The show followed the exploits of an all-female team of secret agents, each having a particular specialty.The fictional show was later mentioned in “The Lego Batman Movie...

Downers Grove South (attacking) is among the teams hoping to advance to the IHSA quarterfinals June 18-19 at Glenbard West. The 2021 IHSA boys’ volleyball tournament will have some unfamiliar wrinkles.One noticeable change in the 2021 tournament is the number of teams competing – 186. That is significantly fewer than the 229 teams entered in the 2019 tournament. Why the sudden drop? Fewer Chicago Public Schools, many of which did not field teams at all this spring due to COVID-19.Secondly, the state finals will not be held at Hoffman Es...

Glenbrook North complete just the sixth unbeaten season (albeit an abbreviated one) for an Illinois boys' volleyball team when it defeated Lake Park, 25-22, 18-25, 25-19, Saturday at Glenbard West. (Photos by Dave Ruggles) After weeks and weeks of speculation (will we or won’t we?), we did.The 2021 boys’ volleyball season ended with an IHSA-sponsored tournament. And though, as always, it was far from perfect – sectional imbalance and “geographic representation” continue to be issues the IHSA refuses to address – somehow, the two best te...

1st Alliance 17 Silver takes over the top spot in the latest 17s rankings despite going 1-6 at the Triple Crown NIT in Kansas City, Missouri, last weekend. While the Illinois boys’ high school season enter the home stretch, the girls club season continues in earnest for the 17-and-under age groups.  Local clubs have been in action at the Triple Crown NIT in Kansas City, Missouri, May 29-31, and the 2021 adidas Windy City National Qualifier in Indianapolis, Indiana, May 14-16, among other events both local and out-of-state.Looming o...