Lockport coach Nick Mraz will be a busy man come February 2021. He coaches both girls and boys teams at Lockport. (Photo by Dave Ruggles) Now that we know that the girls' high school volleyball season has been pushed back to "spring" beginning February 15, here are 10 more teams that could thrive in 2021. Class 4ADowners Grove North (22-17) – Setter Grace Malone and middle hitter Morgan Wendt are significant losses for coach Mark Wasik, but as long as Gwen Wolkow is around, the Trojans will always be in the hunt. The 5-10 outside hit...

Future 18 Elite and SPVB B16 Elite finished second in their respective divisions at the just-concluded 2020 Dennis Lafata Boys Bid Classic in St. Louis. (Photos by Dave Ruggles) The 2020 Dennis Lafata Boys Bid Classic in St. Louis, Missouri, is in the books. Illinois teams did not win a single Open championship, doing most of their damage in the USA and Club divisions.Local division winners at Lafata included SPVB B18 Lenny (18 USA), Future 17 White (17 USA), 630 Volleyball 16-1 (16 USA) and Ultimate B15 Blue (15 Club).Runners-up in th...

Alexis Mines (70) from Joliet West helped SPVB 16 Elite finished third in the 18/17 Power division at the Presidents' Day Challenge hosted by Sports Performance at the Schaumburg Convention Center last weekend. (Photos by Dave Ruggles) The Presidents’ Day tournaments are in the books with Illinois teams competing from Kansas City to St. Louis to Schaumburg. The Triple Crown NIT Volleyball Tournament in Kansas City, Missouri, proved to be the most difficult hurdle for teams from the Great Lakes Region, with 1st Alliance 16 Silver tu...

(Photo by Dave Ruggles) Rumors of Lincoln-Way East’s demise were greatly exaggerated. The defending IHSA tournament champions, who got off to a slow start this season after losing 10 seniors from last year’s titlist, defeated District 210 rival Lincoln-Way West and Glenbard West to win its own invitational Saturday. Ball State recruit Wil McPhillips was named tournament MVP. Next up: the Northside Classic hosted by Glenbrook North and New Trier. Here are the top 25 teams heading into Week Seven. (previous ranking in parenthe...

Springfield Shock 15 Under Armour head coach Bruce Wible said this group has a chance to be “really special.” This is the final installment of Illprepvb.com’s look at some of the top clubs in Illinois in their respective age groups. The 15s are always the most difficult to predict for a variety of reasons. This season, that uncertainty is magnified partly because most 14s experienced a shortened competitive season in 2020, and in some cases, no season at all.However, there are some things we can say for certain.Year in and year out,...

Mother McAuley (far court) has recovered from an 0-4 start and re-entered the rankings after finishing third at the Asics Challenge. (Photo by Dave Ruggles) The jockeying for position is over. The IHSA tournament just a mere three weeks away and sectional seeds are scheduled to be posted Thursday.  A few years ago, the IHSA adopted an online seeding system, which denied coaches the opportunity to state their cases in an open forum. Many coaches have expressed a desire to return to face-to-face seeding meetings, at least where geog...

Fremd's Rylen Reid (13), who toils for Adversity Volleyball Club, and Marist's Mary Clare Brusek (5), who plays for Michio Chicago Volleyball Academy, saw a lot of each other in the 2019 IHSA Class 4A third-place match and could see each other again during club play in 2021. (Photos by Dave Ruggles) Yes, they are playing club volleyball in some parts of the country. Wisconsin and Nevada held events last week. But the immediate future does not look in Illinois as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to ravage the state.The Windy City Power L...

SPVB B18 Elite, SPVB 18 Lenny and Ultimate B16 Gold all won their respective Open divisions at the 21 Dennis Lafata Boys Bid Classic last weekend in St. Louis. The 21 Dennis Lafata Boys Bid Classic at America’s Center in St. Louis wrapped up play Sunday and Great Lakes Region teams turned in a number of stellar performances.Two Sports Performance teams walked away with championships – SPVB B18 Elite and SPVB 18 Lenny. Lenny had also won the tournament in 2020 while SPVB 18 Elite was looking to improve upon a sixth-place finish at the...

Is anyone capable of taking down Glenbard West? That’s the question to ponder this weekend when many of the top teams in Illinois will converge on Downers Grove South and the Smack Attack hosted by Brother Rice, including Glenbard West, Lincoln-Way West and Marist at Brother Rice and Oak Park and New Trier at Downers South. Here are the top 25 teams heading into a pivotal Week Five. (previous ranking in parentheses) 1. Glenbard West 12-0 (1)Hosts league foe Oak Park on Monday, travels to Smack Attack this weekend. 2. Lincoln-Way ...

Ultimate B18 Gold tops the final 2019 1st Alliance Volleyball Club/Illprepvb.com Boys Club Rankings. Another club season is in the books. Congratulations to all the teams that qualified for the 2019 USA Volleyball Boys Junior National Championships in Dallas, Texas. Here are the final 2019 1st Alliance VBC/Illprepvb.com Boys Club Rankings (with pre-tournament rankings in parenthesis). SPVB B18 Elite 18s 1. Ultimate B18 Gold (1)Ultimate B18 Gold never could get anything going at the 2019 USA Volleyball Junior National Championships ...