By Randy Whalen Special to Illprepvb.com It's 39 in a row and it never gets old. According to the IHSA website, Mother McAuley has won a regional title every year since 1980. That includes what were then district championships in the early ‘80s. Well, the Mighty Macs continued that streak with a 25-13, 25-17 victory over the host Astros on Thursday in the title match of the Class 4A Shepard Regional in Palos Heights. No. 4 seeded McAuley (24-13) advances to the Eisenhower Sectional and will play a familiar foe, top-seeded Maris...

Benet defeated Naperville North 25-21, 26-24 to win the Plainfield North Class 4A Sectional. Hattie Monson figured enough was enough. The 5-foot-5 junior libero had watched Benet’s season end in the sectional each of her first two seasons at the school – a 25-23, 25-22 loss to Marist in a sectional semifinal in 2016 and a 25-20, 25-20 setback to Minooka in the sectional championship last year. So what was she feeling when Naperville North’s final kill attempt with the Redwings leading 25-24 in the second set sailed out? “It was ...

Top-seeded Benet advanced to the sectional finals at Plainfield North with a three-set win over Waubonsie Valley on Monday. Beating a team in straight sets is nice, but some victories don’t come that easy. “Before every game, (head coach Brad) Baker tells us it's going to be an hour-and-a-half,” said Benet's 5-foot-10 sophomore outside hitter Kyla Kenney. “We have to be prepared to play for an hour-and-a-half.” Ninety minutes must have seemed like an eternity for No. 2-ranked Benet (33-5) and its fans Monday, but the Redwings r...

Crystal Lake Central repeated as Jacobs Invitational champion Saturday in Algonquin. Crystal Lake Central breathed a sigh of relief after fighting off four set points in Game 1 of the championship match against Waukesha (Wisconsin) Memorial Catholic Saturday at the Jacobs Invitational in Algonquin.But the Crusaders didn’t let the Tigers catch their breath in Game 2, and it was a change of mindset in the third game that powered the defending tournament champion Tigers to a 32-30, 19-25, 25-16 victory and the title of the 12-team tournamen...

Naperville Central's Grace Butler, Alexandra Vanwestrienen, Nicole Smith and Kayla Closset. There’s nothing like playing in your home gym to cure what’s been ailing you, even if it’s not really “home.”No. 4 Benet snapped a two-match losing streak Thursday in the school’s historic Alumni Gym, where the Redwings’ boys basketball team won a state-record 102 consecutive games from November 26, 1975 until January 24, 1987.Benet moved the varsity game to the old gym to make way for freshman “A” and “B” games in the main gym. The change of scen...

No. 2-ranked Benet won its 12th consecutive regional title Thursday at Oswego East. Kyla Kenney was just a freshman on Benet’s varsity last year, but she remembers the 25-20, 25-20 season-ending loss to Minooka in the sectional finals. “We lost to them last year and in our gut we just wanted to get them back,” said the 5-foot-10 sophomore outside hitter. “We all put in the fight for it. It started with a pass, then I kept asking Ally (setter Van Eekeren) for the ball.” With the second set of Thursday’s championship game of the Oswe...

Rita Grassano (middle) and St. Ignatius advanced to the Class 4A Reavis Regional championship match.                                                                                                        Photo courtesy of St. Ignatius By Randy Whalen Special to Illprepvb.com This is the time of the season to be playing your best volleyball. That’s what St. Ignatius has been doing. The Wolfpack won for the 10th time in its past 14 contests and advanced to the title match of the Class 4A Reavis Regional with a 25-13, 25-19 victory over...