Plainfield North's Ella Wrobel (88) headlines Sports Performance 18 Elite, which welcomes back four players from the team that was runner-up in the 18 Open division at the 48th AAU Girls Junior National Championships last summer. (Photo by Dave Ruggles) By Phil BrozynskiIllprepvb.com EditorAnd so it begins.We will get our first look at three of the top 18’s teams in the Great Lakes Region -- Sports Performance 18 Elite, VC United 181 Elite and Illini Elite 18 Cardinal -- this weekend when they scrimmage at the Great Lakes Volleyball Ce...

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...

A number of Illinois club teams will head to the 2021 SCVA Junior Boys Invitational at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, from May 21-23, to either improve their seeding position for nationals or to qualify. (Photo by Dave Ruggles) The boys’ club season is winding down – save for the 2021 Southern California Volleyball Association (SCVA) Junior Boys Invitational at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, from May 21-23, and the big one in Kansas City in late June.Twenty-six Illinois-based teams h...

SPVB 18 Lenny came up short in its bid to win a third consecutive 18 USA title at last weekend's Winter Volleyball Championship in Indianapolis. In two weekends, the boys from Aurora will go for their second consecutive USA crown at the 21 Dennis Lafata Boys Bid Classic in St. Louis. Indianapolis was not hospitable to a lot of teams from Illinois last weekend, but then again, like their sisters, the boys from the Land of Lincoln have been behind the eight ball compared to their brethren from outside Illinois where COVID-19 restrictions...

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...

Chicago Bounce 16 Red will look a lot like last year's 15 Red team with eight players back from the team that finished third at the Dennis Lafata Boys Bid Classic last winter. Boys’ volleyball clubs throughout Illinois (and southeastern Wisconsin) got some bad news earlier this month when Palos Courts was forced to postpone the start of the 2020-21 Palos Point Series due to the COVID-19 pandemic.The news got even worse this week when Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzer announced he would be shutting down indoor youth sports beginning Friday, al...

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...