Former Wheaton Warrenville South and Illinois men's club volleyball setter Doug Burchett recently shared some of his knowledge with middle school and high school players at 630 Volleyball Club in Darien. Doug Burchett led Wheaton Warrenville South to two of its record seven state boys' volleyball titles. By Phil BrozynskiIllprepvb.comDoug Burchett believes someone will break his Illinois’ high school all-time assist record. But it likely won't happen anytime soon.“There's a lot of really solid setters out there,” said Burchett, whos...

Glenbard West's Gavin Swartz (shown here playing for Ultimate B18 Gold at the Winter Volleyball Championships), had 9 kills in the championship match of the Lincoln-Way East Invitational. (Photo by Dave Ruggles). Glenbard West outside hitter Ryan Swartz. (Photo by Dave Ruggles) By Randy WhalenSpecial to Illprepvb.comWhere there's a Wil, there's a way.Led by outstanding efforts from Trevor Lewis and tournament MVP Wil McPhillips, Lincoln-Way East rallied to defeat No. 2 Glenbard West, 22-25, 25-23, 15-10, to win the title of its own invi...

The Chicago Public School teachers' strike has added more uncertainty to Fenwick's tournament future Montini enters the IHSA Class 2A tournament next week as one of the favorites to reach Redbird Arena on November 15. Meanwhile, Fenwick’s future in the Class 3A tournament is a bit muddled. The Broncos and Friars met for the fourth time this season Thursday in Lombard. Senior outside hitter Julia Marciniak and sophomores Madalyn Kasallis and Paige Pickering each contributed 12 kills as Montini won, 25-21, 24-26, 25-10, to take the season ser...

Sandburg extended its season-opening winning streak to 10 with a straight-set win Thursday at Joliet Catholic. (Photos by Dave Ruggles) By Randy WhalenSpecial to Illprepvb.comThe smallest girl on the court continues to make a big impact.Rachel Krasowski is listed at 5-foot-3. But the Sandburg senior libero, who is a four-year varsity player, admits that she's not quite that tall.“I'm happy I'm listed as that, and I will take it,” Krasowski said. “But I'm probably 5-foot-2.” Five-foot-2 or 5-foot-3, Krasowski’s steady defensive influence is ...

Naperville Central won the first battle of Naperville on Thursday, defeating rival North in wild three-setter at Naperville North. Nikki Jones had 27 assists for Marist Thursday at Mother McAuley. (Photo by Dave Ruggles) By Randy WhalenSpecial to Illprepvb.com Marist might have been the visiting team, but the RedHawks were going to feed off the energy in the gym.The two-time defending IHSA Class 4A champions overcame a big first-set deficit and rallied for a 26-24, 25-22 win over host Mother McAuley.The neighborhood feud not only featu...

Batavia coach Lori Trippi-Payne gathers with her team for one of the last times before announcing her retirement following Tuesday's loss to Waubonsie Valley. (Photos by Dave Ruggles) Two Batavia players collide going to a ball during Tuesday's loss to Waubonsie Valley. (Photos by Dave Ruggles) After 33 years of coaching and more than 535 wins, Batavia’s Lori Trippi-Payne announced her retirement following Tuesday’s 25-12, 25-10 loss to Waubonsie Valley in a Class 4A regional semifinal at Waubonsie Valley.“I could have retired after las...

Many athletes, coaches and fans are holding out hope that some of the 2020 boys high school volleyball season can be salvaged and scenes like this one be repeated. (Photo by Dave Ruggles) Updated 3:45 p.m., Wednesday, April 1 Two weeks on the shelf (and more ahead), but here and elsewhere we’re still hoping that there will be a boys’ high school volleyball season, even a substantially abbreviated one. After Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzer announced Tuesday that schools would remain closed through April 30, the IHSA released a statement...

Leena Ajibola (12) had 5 kills in Lockport's victory over Crete-Monee Tuesday at Lockport. (Photos by Dave Ruggles) By Randy WhalenSpecial to Illprepvb.comThe last time Joliet West won a regional title was in 2016. That season, the Tigers defeated Lockport in the regional championship match. They will have an opportunity to repeat that feat in the title match of the Class 4A Lockport regional Thursday at 6:00 p.m. The Tigers defeated crosstown rival Joliet Central, 25-7, 25-13, in Tuesday’s second semifinal, and Lockport took ca...

New Trier junior Peter Brown led the Trevians to a third-place finish in the IHSA Boys Volleyball Tournament. (Photos by Dave Ruggles) Illprepvb.com asked boys' volleyball coaches statewide to nominate players for this year's all-state team. The Player of the Year will be announced Saturday and the all-state team will be announced Sunday. These are some of the players who were nominated by their coaches for the all-state team: Sammy Adkisson, 5-10, Sr., L, Vernon HillsThe Player of the Year in the Central Suburban North, Adkisson ama...

Division 1 and Wildcat Juniors recently merged, creating more training and participation opportunities for athletes who live in the North Shore area. By Randy WhalenSpecial to Illprepvb.comThe COVID-19 pandemic has played havoc with youth sports.One of the hardest-hit sports has been volleyball, which saw the cancellation of the Illinois boys’ high school season last spring, the cancellation of the USA Volleyball Junior National Championships and a scaled-down AAU Junior National Championships this summer, and the postponement of the IHSA...