Despite dropping its first match of the weekend Saturday at the B16-Palos Point Series #4, SPVB B16 Elite finished atop the series' standings by winning its last five matches. The B16-Palos Point Series #4 concluded Sunday and most teams are looking ahead to this weekend’s Winter Volleyball Championships at McCormick Place, where teams in the 16 and 15 Open divisions will vie for one of nine bids to the 2020 USA Volleyball Boys Junior National Championships in Reno, Nevada, June 27-July 4. 2019-20 Michio Chicago/Illprepvb.com Boys C...

Shane Ooms (far left) from Minooka and his UNO Boys 18 Elite teammates finished in 17th place in the 18 Open division at the SCVA 2020 Boys Junior Volleyball Invitational last weekend in Anaheim. The qualifier season is under way. Future 18 Elite and Chicago Bounce 18 Red both finished among the top 10 teams in the 18 Open division at last weekend’s 202 Southern California Volleyball Association Boys Junior Volleyball Invitational in Anaheim, while 630 Volleyball 17-1 finished third in the 17 USA division. The 2020 Boys Winter Vol...

Most Illinois 16s will be in action during the Presidents Day holiday at tournaments from Indiana to Nebraska. (Photos by Dave Ruggles) The first thing you notice when you try to track down records of teams you think should be ranked is that while the Illinois COVID-19 restrictions were in place, everyone went anywhere to find someone to play.Wisconsin. Indiana, Iowa. Tennessee. Alabama. Kids may be learning from home, but they are still getting an education in geography.Meanwhile, Illinois clubs are gearing up for one of several Presid...

Adversity 16 Adidas finished third in Bracket AA last weekend at Palos Courts, falling to SPVB B16 Elite in the semifinals. Last week, we looked at the top 18s and 17s boys club teams in Illinois. This week, after three weeks of the Palos Point Series and a few other minor tournaments, we look at the top 16s and 15s. 2019-20 Michio Chicago/Illprepvb.com Boys Club Rankings (Season-to-date record in parenthesis) 16s1. SPVB B16 Elite (16-1)The boys from Aurora avenged their only loss of the young season, defeating Adversity 16 Ad...

SPVB 18 Elite, which finished second at the 48th AAU Junior National Volleyball Championships and during the season posted five wins and no losses against teams that finished in the top five in the 18 Open division at the 2021 USAV Girls 18 Junior National Championship in Columbus, Ohio, earned the No. 1 ranking in the final 2021 1st Alliance VBC/Illprepvb.com Girls Club Rankings. Somebody did not do their homework. The 48th AAU Junior National Volleyball Championships wrapped up late last month, and in the Girls 18 Open championsh...

Club teams from throughout Illinois scattered across the Midwest and beyond to compete in President's Day tournaments. Texas. Nebraska. Missouri, Indiana. Michigan.Illinois teams scattered to the corners of the Midwest – and 1,000 miles to the south – to compete in tournaments over the President’s Day weekend. Four ocal teams earned championships, including Adversity G17 Adidas (17 Open in St. Louis), VC United 161 Elite (16 Premier in Indianapolis) and Springfield Shock 15 Under Armour (AAU STL Crossfire Super Regionals).But none was w...

Marist will be among the teams vying for the title at this weekend's Asics Challenge hosted by Mother McAuley. (Photo by Dave Ruggles) What do Assumption (Louisville, Kentucky), Ballston Lake (Burnt Hills, New York), St. Thomas Aquinas (Ft. Lauderdale, Florida), Marist, Sandburg, St. Francis and Huntley all have in common? They are among the 24 teams competing this weekend at the Asics Challenge hosted by Mother McAuley. The Asics Challenge has long been the playground of Ron Kordes’ Assumption Rockets, although the locals have broken t...

Amanda Rice of Lemont and her Adversity G18 Adidas teammates won the Windy City Power League 17&18 Open division championship, going 14-1 overall with its only loss at the hands of Sky High Adidas 18 Black on February 2. (Photo by Dave Ruggles) The Windy City Power League wrapped up Sunday and the chase for bids to the USA Volleyball Girls Junior National Championships is on, beginning with the 2020 Nike Mideast Qualifier at the Indianapolis Convention Center in Indianapolis, Indiana, March 20-22.Here are the final 2020 Michio Chi...

Chicago Bounce 18 Red should get even better when Barrington's Ben Ridgway and New Trier's Peter Brown are fully healthy. (Photos by Dave Ruggles) The preseason is over. Let the qualifier season begin. The 2020 Boys Winter Volleyball Championships at McCormick Place on January 18-20 will give us a better idea of where the Illinois boys club teams stack up regionally and nationally, but after three weekends at Palos Courts, it’s never too early to speculate on who are some of the best bets to make noise on the lakefront. So here i...