Brown County went 17-4 in the spring and hopes to duplicate, if not exceed, that success this fall behind (front row, from left) Gabby McGath, Cortni Law and Makenna Post; (middle row, from left) Brooke Garthaus, Justyce Hunter, Cyrah Dunlap and Lea Houston; and (back row, from left) Ashlee Markert, Klare Flynn, Katey Flynn and Gracie Hedden. Not pictured is Kaci McKeon. Illprepvb.com continues its look at the 2021 season with more previews, including those of (Mt. Sterling) Brown County, which is on a quest to make history this fall a...
Just how good is Normal U-High in 2021? Bloomington is ready and willing to testify
Maycie Welborn, a 6-foot-3 Morehead State recruit, led Normal U-High with 11 kills on 11 swings during a 25-9, 25-20 victory Wednesday at Bloomington. (Photo by Randy Sharer) https://twitter.com/Pg_Sharer/status/1372399811333328898 https://twitter.com/i/status/1372398201605603328 By Randy SharerSpecial to Illprepvb.comBLOOMINGTON – With no state tournament to sort things out, we are free to speculate about how good teams such as Normal University High School are.Veteran talent evaluator Joe Sanders, in his 23rd-year as Bloomingt...
Northwestern recruit Averie Hernandez powers Normal West past visiting Danville
Normal West junior Averie Hernandez, a 6-foot-2 Northwestern recruit, swats one of her 12 kills in Thursday's 25-10, 25-13 home victory over Danville. Hernandez also had a block for the 3-2 Wildcats. Attempting to block Hernandez was Danville's Savanna Rudy (7). https://twitter.com/Pg_Sharer/status/1375281237275852803 By Randy SharerSpecial to Illprepvb.comNORMAL – In nine years as the Normal West High School volleyball coach, Kelsey Mueller has seen a few good players peak early in their careers.“(Averie Hernandez) is defin...
Hall has herself a ball as North tops Central in neighborhood rivalry
Kaitlyn Skowronski (7) was one of three Naperville Central players with 3 kills, but it wasn't enough Tuesday as the Redhawks fell to neighborhood rival Naperville North. (Photo by Dave Ruggles) By Matt Le CrenSpecial to Illprepvb.comEllie Hall turned the Naperville North gym into a house of horrors for Naperville Central on Tuesday.The 6-foot middle blocker seemed to be everywhere at once and the visiting Redhawks could never find a way out.Hall played like a girl on a mission, leading all players with 7 kills and 4 blocks to lead Nape...
Chicago Elite Volleyball Club continues to thrive despite pandemic, uncertainty
Chicago Christian and Chicago Elite Volleyball Club graduate Lia Moore (far right) is now playing at Michigan State. (Photo by Dave Ruggles) By Matt Le CrenSpecial to Illprepvb.comWith most youth sports on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic, volleyball club coaches naturally wondered if their enrollment would go down this fall.That has not been the case at Chicago Elite.“We thought we’d be a little bit hurt in numbers just because what’s the point of playing club if there’s not going to be any tournaments,” said Chicago Elite boys di...
Lenny, Dail feel the heat to three-peat at Winter Volleyball Championships
Club 1 B18 Skronkstrong had a rough start to its weekend at the Winter Volleyball Championships Saturday in Indianapolis, going 0-3 in first round pool play. (Photos by Dave Ruggles) Jason Kougan (Lincoln-Way East) and his Ultimate B18 Gold teammates struggled to an 0-2 finish Saturday. Indianapolis, Indiana – Solomon Dail is feeling the heat.“(Coach Zach) Splitt is a very, very competitive person, and there’s a lot of pressure on me as a team captain because he really wants this three-peat,” said the 6-foot-5 Dail, a Sports Performanc...
Palos Courts announces postponement of the Point Series until January
The Palos Point Series has been put on hold until at least January due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Palos Court Point Series, the traditional start of the boys’ club season in Illinois for age groups 14 through 18, has been postponed until at least January, Palos Courts Sports Complex director Adam Beck said in an email to participating clubs Monday.“Since we are, unfortunately, in no different phase here in Illinois, we are going to have to cancel the November portion of the Palos Point Series and hope we can get restarted in January 202...
SPVB B18 Elite’s national championship hopes go down in the (Balboa) Bay
Chicago Bounce 18 Red defeated Pipeline 18-1, 25-21, 25-21, to win the 18 USA division at the 2021 USAV Boys Junior National Volleyball championships Wednesday in Kansas City. Kansas City, Missouri – The end came like a rushing wave.After beating the Nos. 2 and 6 seeds to reach the quarterfinals of the 18 Open division at the 2021 USAV Boys Junior National Championships at the Kansas City Convention Center, SPVB B18 Elite was swamped Wednesday by Balboa Bay 18 Blue, 25-12, 25-22.“We started off with a service error to start the match,” sai...
Balboa Bay ends 630 Volleyball 16-1's run to a USAV national championship
630 Volleyball 16-1 reached the championship match of the 16 Open division Saturday at the 2021 USAV Boys Junior National Championship in Kansas City, Missouri, before running afoul of Balboa Bay 16 Blue. Kansas City, Missouri – There would be no second scintillating comeback for 630 Volleyball 16-1.After mounting a furious rally to defeat Bay to Bay 16-1 (Campbell, California) in the semifinals, 630 Volleyball 16-1 saw Balboa Bay 16 Blue dash its national title hopes late Saturday at the 2021 USAV Boys Junior National Championship at the...
There's something special about playing for your mom, and for moms coaching their daughters
Dakota's Tabytha Toelke likely would have finished in the top three on the IHSA all-time career kills list but for the pandemic-shortened season. The four-year starter led the state with 562 kills as a junior. https://youtu.be/RHMmGZ6fp4E By Matt Le CrenSpecial to Illprepvb.comTheir hometowns are separated by hundreds of miles and they have never met, but Dakota’s Tabytha Toelke, Paris’ Emma Pinkston and Herrin’s Kelsey Jurich have a lot in common.All three volleyball stars are multisport athletes, team captains, outstanding students...