Barrington's Lexi Zimmerman (17) was a three-time All-Big Ten selection, a three-time AVCA All-American and the Michigan Female Athlete of the Year in 2009-2010. (Photo courtesy of the Michigan Daily) Today, we continue our countdown of the 100 All-Times Best Illinois Girls Volleyball Players with Nos. 11-20. Volleyball has come a long way since the IHSA began sponsoring a state tournament series in 1974. You might be hard-pressed to recognize the game. Not only have the rules changed, but so has the caliber of the athletes who com...

(Front row, from left) Annie Sobolewski and Hattie Monson and (back row, from left) Colleen McGuire, Maeve Nelligan, Rachel Muisenga, Sophie Gregus and Kyla Kenney hope to lead Benet to its sixth appearance at Redbird Arena in the last nine years. You might say Rachel Muisenga, a setter by trade, served her apprenticeship at Benet the past two years by being on the receiving end of sets instead of setting others.This year, however, the 6-foot junior is getting her chance to run the show.Muisenga and the No. 2-ranked (Class 4A) Redwings ...

Marist outside hitter Kamryn Haney, who led the RedHawks to the championship of the Wheaton Classic, was limited to just a single kill Thursday at Mother McAuley. (Photo by Dave Ruggles) By Randy WhalenSpecial to Illprepvb.comWhen Marist traveled to face rival Mother McAuley in the spring, there was something missing.The crowd.That wasn't missing when the two teams got together again on Thursday night, however. The gym was packed to the rafters and the home crowd left happy. That's because Mother McAuley’s 5-11 sophomore outside hitte...

The belated girls high school volleyball season got underway in earnest Tuesday, including this match between St. Laurence and St. Joseph in Burbank. (Photos by Dave Ruggles) By Randy WhalenSpecial to Illprepvb.comEllie White rattled off the names of a couple of the Mother McAuley legends.“I always wanted to play here,” the freshman outside/right side hitter said Tuesday after starting her first match for the Mighty Macs. “I remember watching girls like Charley Niego and Nancy Kane play here.”White may very well be on her way to joini...

Colin Dahill (16) is one of four starters returning for St. Rita, which lost a heartbreaking three-setter to New Trier in the 2019 IHSA quarterfinals at Hoffman Estates. (Photo by Dave Ruggles) Illprepvb.com continues its look at the 2020 boys' high school volleyball season with another set of team previews. Illprepvb.com provides the best in boys volleyball coverage throughout the season anywhere in the state. School: Metea ValleyConference: DuPage ValleyHead coach: John Aister (10th year, 181-143)Last season’s highlights: 16-22 overa...

Top Flight Volleyball Club, which is based in Elgin, is sending five teams to the 47th Annual AAU Girls Junior National Volleyball Championships this week in Orlando, Florida. Top Flight 18 Theta coach Jake Mattern. By Matt Le CrenSpecial to Illprepvb.comTop Flight Volleyball Club didn’t take long to live up to its name.In the 12 years since Cindy Gritzman founded the club with her husband, Sean, the Elgin-based organization has won 15 national titles and grown from an initial 90 players to nearly 2,500. More than 100 Top Flight alums ...

Naperville Central is one of 128 teams hoping to extend its IHSA tournament run when it joins the field at the Bolingbrook Class 4A sectional beginning this week. (Photo by Dave Ruggles) Here it is, Illprepvb.com’s not-so-brief look at the 32 sectionals feeding into 16 supersectionals that will provide four fields of four semifinalists in each class November 15-16 at Redbird Arena on the campus of Illinois State University in Normal. Class 4A Fremd supersectional At Warren sectionalLibertyville (27-10) vs. Lake Forest (28-8)Cary-Grov...

Sterling's Brooklyn Borum smashes one of her 12 kills past the block of Nazareth's Izzy Decker (3) and Danielle Wojtycki (8). (Photos by Dave Ruggles) By Randy WhalenSpecial to Illprepvb.com NORMAL – The Borum twins felt right at home Friday at Redbird Arena.That showed as they led Sterling back to the IHSA Class 3A championship match.The Borums combined to bang home 19 kills as the defending state champion Golden Warriors defeated Nazareth, 25-18, 25-19, in the first 3A semifinal at Redbird Arena on the campus of Illinois State University...

Paige Lauterwasser (14) and her Naperville North teammates suffered their first loss in the DuPage Valley Conference on Thursday. By Phil BrozynskiIllprepvb.com EditorGone is longtime setter Anna Jaworski, who is busy setting all kinds of records at Southern Illinois University.Gone, too, are middle hitter Ellie Hall and outside hitter Eva Hartung, who were a big part of Naperville North’s unbeaten season last spring.So there are a lot of new faces on the Huskies’ side of the court this fall. But there is one familiar face.“Yeah, we only d...

Sterling libero Lexi Rodriguez announced that she will graduate early and start her college career at Nebraska in January, bypassing her senior season for the two-time defending IHSA Class 3A champions. (Photo by Dave Ruggles) Sterling's Lexi Rodriguez The next time Sterling’s Lexi Rodriguez digs a ball in anger will not happen in the Land of Lincoln.It will happen in Lincoln, Nebraska.Rodriguez, ranked No. 10 in the 2021 recruiting class according to Prepvolleyball.com, announced last week that she will graduate from high school early ...