By Phil Brozynski

More than 1,500 fans jammed steamy Neuqua Valley High School Wednesday to watch the nation’s best junior club volleyball team battle one of Japan’s top high school school teams.

Sports Performance 18 Elite overcame a 20-15 deficit in game two to defeat Kyushu Bunka Gakuen 25-12, 25-22. The teams played a third game as an exhibition with the visitors from Japan winning 33-31.

Sports Performance used its superior height and physical strength to great advantage against the smaller, quicker visitors. Still, a few of the balls that came back took the local all-stars by surprise.

“There’s no question we’re more physical than they are, but there’s also no question they have phenomenal skill,” Sports Performance coach Rick Butler said. “We knew they would dig a lot of balls. It was a great match”

This was the first trip to the United States for many of the Kyushu Bunka Gakuen players, who arrived Tuesday for the exhibition and to participate in the Junior Volleyball Directors Association tournament this weekend in Louisville, Kentucky.

Among the standouts for Kyushu Bunka Gakuen, a year-round private school of about 700 students, are middle hitter Hiroka Kinoshita and outside hitters Mari Yamada, Kanako Maruyama and Saki Minemura.

“We have not had a chance to do any sightseeing,” Minemura said through an interpreter. “We had to study. We will do some sightseeing beginning July 1.”

Despite facing the likes of the 6-foot-2 Colleen Ward, 6-1 Kelly Murphy and 6-foot Katie Post, Minemura said Sports Performance was not the biggest team Kyushu Bunka Gakuen has faced.

“China,” Minemura said. “They’re big.”

***

Prior to taking on Kyushu Bunka Gakuen, Sports Performance 18 Elite dominated the field at the 35th Amateur Athletic Union Junior National Volleyball Championships in Lake Buena Vista, California June 20-22.

Former Joliet Catholic great and Florida-bound Kelly Murphy, who garnered Most Valuable Player honors for the second year in a row, led Sports Performance past Munciana Samurai in the 18 Open final.

Other standouts for the national champs included Colleen Ward (Naperville North/Florida), Becca Zlabis (Wheaton Warrenville South/Michigan State) and Megan Barnicle (St. Francis/Notre Dame).

Sports Performance lost just one game during the tournament. Sports Performance 18 White, the club’s third team, defeated Sports Performance 18 Red to reach the semifinals before falling to the eventual champions 25-12, 20-25, 15-11.

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Hampshire’s Kara Wehrs was named the most outstanding player after leading Club Fusion 16 Black over 1st Alliance for the 16s title at the PrepVolleyball.com Classic in Wisconsin Dells on June 21.

Other award winners among the 16s at the Classic included: 1st Alliance’s Annemarie Hickey (Joliet Catholic), best attacker; Jacqui Seidel (St. Charles East), best blocker; and Emily Weber (Rosary), best teammate.

Fusion also won the Classic Cup, awarded to the club with the best overall performance at the tournament.

***

Rolling Thunder’s Kayla Price was name the best setter in the 15s division at the PrepVolleyball.com Classic. Price led Rolling Thunder to the quarterfinals before they lost to Fusion 15 Black.

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By Phil Brozynski

If club play is any indication, Downers Grove South will be awful tough to beat this fall.

Four members of the Mustangs’ anticipated fall squad – outside hitter Christine Bowe, outside hitter Kelsey Safranek, defensive whiz Courtney Gosewich and setter Colleen Dobry – have been playing for 1st Alliance 17 Silver.

All 1st Alliance 17 Silver has done this summer is finish third out of 53 teams at the PrepVolleyball.com Classic June 15-17 in Wisconsin Dells and fifth out of 24 teams at the National Junior Classic at the Great Lakes Center May 24-26.

Other members of 1st Alliance 17 Silver include Mother McAuley defensive ace Sue Hayes, Lemont hitter Aubrey Sniegowski, Payton middle Courtney Cunningham, and Oak Park middle hitter Sara Shannon, who was named the Most Outstanding Blocker in the Dells.

1st Alliance 17 Black, powered by Downers South’s 6-1 setter Marielle Oestemeyer, has not done too badly, either. 1st Alliance Black finished seventh at NJC and fifth at the PrepVolleyball.com Classic.

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Club Fusion 17 Black coach Chris Bronke, who coaches Barrington during the high school season, watched his team tie for fifth at the PrepVolleyball.com Classic.

Two of Black’s four losses in the Dells were three-set matches to FaR Out 17-1 (25-14, 20-25, 15-13), which finished second, and Milwaukee Sting 17 Gold (25-21, 20-25, 15-11), which won the NJC tournament and tied for third at the Dells.

Club Fusion 17 Black features talented players from the northwest and far west suburbs led by 6-2 middle blocker Samantha Thrower, who led Sycamore to a third-place finish in the inaugural Illinois High School Association Class 3A tournament last fall.

Other standouts for Fusion 17 Black were Crystal Lake South middle Erin Johnson, Prairie Ridge opposite hitter Sondra Parys, and Burlington Central setter Molly Turk.

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Sports Performance is expanding into the far northwest suburbs. The Aurora-based club will be among the tenants when the new Lake Barrington Fieldhouse on Pepper Road opens sometime this year. The facility will feature indoor baseball diamonds and basketball and volleyball courts.

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Rolling Thunder 17 Blue finished tied for 13th among the 53 teams at the PrepVolleyball.com Classic. Leading the way for Rolling Thunder was Lake Zurich’s 6-foot outside hitter Amber Miehlke.

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Defending national Junior Olympics champion Sports Performance 18 Elite will play Kyushu Bunka Gakuen High School of Nagasaki, Japan at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 25 at Neuqua Valley High School.

Kyushu Bunka Gakuen has won the Japanese national high school championship 11 times and has reached the national title match 18 times. It has a total of 26 top four finishes in the past 27 years.

The Japanese are widely recognized throughout the world as having the finest volleyball skills at the youth and junior level.

The Sports Performance 18 Elite team is 64-0 and ranked No. 1 in the United States by Prepvolleyball.com. Sports Performance is led by 2007 Gatorade National High School Player of the Year and Florida recruit Kelly Murphy of Joliet Catholic.

Other team members are: Megan Barnicle (St. Francis), Julie Chin (Naperville North), Lettys Espinoza (Proviso West), Michelle Kocher (St. Francis), Mollie Kolosky (Wheaton Warrenville South), Katie Post (Streamwood), Colleen Ward (Naperville North), Christine Wu (Naperville North) and Rebecca Zlabis (WW South).

Sports Performance has won a total of 61 Amateur Athletic Union and United States Amateur Volleyball national championships since 1980 including the USAV 18 Open championship a national record eight times.

The match will be played in the main gymnasium at Neuqua Valley High School, 2360 95th Street (just west of Rt. 59) in Naperville. Admission is $3 for adults and students. Children under 12 are free.

For more inforrmation, contact Rick or Cheryl Butler at (630) 898-6400.

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By Phil Brozynski

When it comes to the off-season, boys basketball has nothing on girls volleyball.

This week, some of the top players in the Chicago area are competing for Club Fusion and 1st Alliance at the PrepVolleyball.com Classic in beautiful, if not a little soggy, Wisconsin Dells, Wis. Later this month, the newly-formed JVDA will host an international field in Louisville, Ky.

But before thinking ahead to the high school season in a few weeks, it’s always a good idea to take a little time to look back.

Here are the best players in the Chicago area over the past 26 seasons. And while looking at this list, think about who will be named the Sun-Times’ 2008 Player of the Year.

Will it be Benet’s Jessica Jendryk, who has already committed to Illinois? Or Mother McAuley’s powerful middle Kelly Griffin? How about Downers Grove South’s great outside Kelsey Safranek? Naperville Central’s explosive Emily McGee? Or will Payton's Courtney Cunningham become the Chicago Public School's first POY?

1982 Eva Murray, Mother McAuley
1983 Nancy Reno, Glenbard West
1984 Mary Eggers, West Aurora
1985 Cheryl Prihar, Oak Forest
1986 Barb Blizzard, Richards
1987 Julie Bremner, St. Francis
1988 Michele Kohler, Richards
1989 Kristin Henriksen, Immaculate Conception
1990 Kathleen Shannon, Immaculate Conception
1991 Sara Skyrd, St. Francis
1992 Michelle Battistella, Mother McAuley
1993 Nicole Peterson, Lockport
1994 Jeanine Szczesniak, Mother McAuley
1995 Ryann Connors, Mother McAuley
1996 Christie Landry, St. Francis
1997 Stephanie Jackson, Lockport
1998 Elizabeth Gower, Naperville Central
1999 Melissa Vandrey, Queen of Peace
2000 Marian Weidner, St. Francis
2001 Samantha Tortorello, Joliet Catholic
2002 Colleen Byrne, Sandburg
2003 Katie Brudzinski, Naperville North
2004 Laura Holloway, Barrington
2005 Jessica Yanz, Naperville Central
2006 Lindsey Mango, Naperville Central
2007 Kelly Murphy, Joliet Catholic

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By Phil Brozynski

All weekend long, my fellow scribe from the other great metropolitan daily and I were musing how Wheaton Warrenville South was going to make us look like geniuses.

Both of us had ranked the Tigers No. 1 in the preseason, but they had clearly played their way out of that position for much of the season. But when the dust settled Saturday, there they were, holding the big trophy for the fourth time in five years.

And don’t be surprised if WW South is ranked No. 1 in the preseason again next spring, and don’t be surprised if they win it all again.

There will be contenders – Marist, Sandburg, Glenbard East to name a few – but few teams capable of putting as many weapons on the court as WW South.

Meanwhile, it’s time to look forward to the fall and girls volleyball. Naperville Central, Benet and Downers Grove will be serious contenders, with Mother McAuley fielding another strong team along with St. Francis.

The list of top 50 girls players is already being compiled, and honestly, it’s a little crowded. Illinois continues to produce some of the best volleyball talent in the country – regardless of gender.

And finally, congratulations to Northside Prep's Nicole Flores, who was named "Coach of the Year' by the Chicago Public Schools. Flores guided her boys team to the city title this spring and her teams, boys and girls, are always among the citry's best.

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