Oak Park-River Forest figures to be one of the best teams in Class 4A this season behind Kansas-bound outside hitter Grace Nelson and Davidson College recruit setter Kinsey Smith. By Phil BrozynskiIllprepvb.com EditorThe Illinios girls high school volleyball season begins in earnest in just a few days, and today Illprepvb.com continues its annual series of previews of the teams, players and coaches whose ultimate goal is a trip to Redbird (now CEFCU) Arena on the campus of Illinois State University in Normal.Here is nearly everything yo...

Lyons Township defeated Glenbard East on Thursday to win the regional at Naperville Central. https://youtu.be/IlDZBeCjmGY At LockportIt’s not next year. The time is now for the Lockport boys' volleyball team.Without a single senior starter, many pundits thought the Porters were a year away from making a big playoff push. Instead, they went out and rallied for a 19-25, 25-20, 25-21 win over top-seed Lincoln-Way East in Thursday’s title match of the Lockport Regional.After winning just three regional titles between 1993 and 2017, Lockpo...

Glenbard West's bench storms the court after Liam O'Neill's kill at match point gave the Toppers their second consecutive IHSA championship Saturday at Hoffman Estates, (Photos by Dave Ruggles) https://youtu.be/wl5mmyRxsy4 By Phil BrozynskiIllprepvb.com EditorCould Glenbard West be two-thirds of the way to another three-peat?“I won't say anything about it, but that would be awesome if they could,” said Glenbard West’s 6-5 outside hitter Parker Moorhead.Moorhead had 11 kills, 3 assists, 1 ace, a dig and a block, and 6-5 middle hitt...

Jones College Prep fell into a first-place tie with Whitney Young and Taft in the Chicago Public Gold with its 25-21, 25-29 loss to the Dolphins on Tuesday. By Phil BrozynskiIllprepvb.com EditorFew could have imagined that after his friend dragged him to a boys’ volleyball tryout a few years back that Whitney Young’s 6-8 outside hitter Tyler Tharpe would have developed into one of the top high school players in the country.But there is one thing that Tharpe, who has committed to continue his academic and volleyball career at Ohio State next...

Benet Academy's Annie Eschenbach slams a kill past the outstretched arms of Oswego East's Cailyn Smiley (14) and Ava Stiller (13) during Monday's first sectional semifinal at Plainfield North. (Photos by Dave Ruggles) By Phil BrozynskiIllprepvb.com EditorAnnie Eschenbach remembers.“This is the game that we lost last year,” said Eschenbach, Benet Academy’s 6-4 middle hitter and one of a handful of returning starters who lived through last year’s 25-14, 18-25, 25-18 sectional semifinal loss to Plainfield North at Oswego.“Going into this game,...

Normal University High's Lily Barry (12) had 19 kills and 19 digs, but her efforts were not enough to prevent the Pioneers from falling to Rochester in a Central State Eight showdown in Normal . (Photos by Randy Sharer) By Randy SharerSpecial to Illprepvb.comNORMAL – Nothing symbolized the grinding nature of Tuesday’s Central State Eight Conference matchup between Rochester, ranked No. 6 in Class 3A by Illprepvb.com, and No. 1 Normal University High more than the penultimate point in Game 2.U-High’s swarming defenders ricocheted a ball...

IC Catholic Prep's Ava Falduto (4) should help 1st Alliance 17 Gold's bid for a national championshp. On the home page, not every volleyball plauer in Illinois plays for an Illinois-based club. Herrin's Karli Mann (23, far left) plays for Evansville United in Indiana. (Photos by Dave Ruggles) By Phil BrozynskiIllprepvb.com EditorToday, we turn our attention to the 17s as we continue our look at some of the top club teams in Illinois. This year’s crop of 17s has some high bars to hurdle.Last summer, 1st Alliance 17 Gold won the 17 Open c...

Timothy Christian was back at it Wednesday, less than a day after a crushing 25-21, 21-25, 26-24 loss to rival IC Catholic Prep. By Phil BrozynskiIllprepvb.com EditorSometimes the hardest thing to do is sports is to come back after a crushing defeat. That was the challenge for Timothy Christian Wednesday at Westmont, 24 hours after a heartbreaking 25-21, 21-25, 26-24 loss to Illprepvb.com Class 2A top-ranked IC Catholic Prep.“That’s what I told the girls as we were getting ready,” said Timothy Christian coach Scott Piersma. “The test is...

Rolling Meadows' middle hitter Chruis Kalweit (23) and the Mustangs dropped both of their matches Friday at the Wheaton Warrenville South Tiger Classic. (File photo by Dave Ruggles) By Phil BrozynskiIllprepvb.com EditorLoyola Academy took care of business. St. Rita gave Fremd the business.  Day two at the Wheaton Warrenville South Tiger Classic did not go exactly as planned for several of the top seeds. But Loyola Academy came out of the scrum unscathed, defeating Rolling Meadows and Neuqua Valley in straight sets to advance to Saturday’s q...

Hinsdale Central (far court), which defeated Lyons Township during the regular season and in last year's sectional semifinals, could not pull of the feat again Saturday. (Photos by Dave Ruggles) At OswegoLyons Township stars Sam Levinson and Luka Kostic claim they don’t dwell on the past.But they aren’t above using history to fuel their fire.Levinson smashed 9 kills and Kostic landed eight more as the top-seeded Lions knocked off rival Hinsdale Central, 25-21, 25-20, in the Oswego Sectional semifinals on Saturday.The victory avenged a ...