By Phil Brozynski

The Illinois High School Association released the sites for the 2008 Girls Volleyball State Tournament recently, and while the home court did not help Naperville North last year, Downers Grove South will welcome any edge it can get.

The state title-contending Mustangs will have homecourt advantage for the Class 4A volleyball sectional which will likely include defending state champion Naperville Central, powerful Benet, and perhaps Plainfield North, Neuqua Valley, Naperville North or Waubonsie Valley.

How much the homecourt will mean remains to be seen. Neither team which played a 4A sectional on its home floor in 2007 - Naperville North and Normal - advanced to the supersectional.

However, playing in front of a predominately partisan crowd did not hurt Wheaton St. Francis, which defeated Joliet Catholic in two games in last year's electric 3A sectional final in Wheaton.

Other 4A sectional hosts in 2008 will include Prairie Ridge, York, DeLaSalle, Andrew, Barrington, Highland Park and Quincy.

St. Francis won't get a sectional in 3A, but the Spartans will host a regional. Local 3A sectional sites include Crete-Monee, Nazareth Academy, (River Forest) Trinity and Marian Central.

Luther South hosts the only Chicago-area 2A sectional and Chicago-area Class 1A hopefuls will have to travel to Somonauk for their sectional.

Very little seems to have changed from last year in terms of which regionals will feed into particular sectionals. But until the IHSA holds its "rolling of the peas" sometime this September, how the sectionals match up has not yet been determined.

Elsewhere, Marilyn Akey stepped down at (Chicago Heights) Marian Catholic after 13 seasons which included 287 wins, nine regional titles, a supersectional appearance in 1996 and a quarterfinal berth in 2002.

Stefanie Cravens, a Rich South graduate and an assistant at Marian Catholic the past three seasons, was named to succeed Akey.

Posted by Back Row at 7:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

By Phil Brozynski

UCLA All-America setter Nellie Spicer played for Sports Performance. So did her Barrington and UCLA teammate Laura Holloway. But you'll find few other Barrington or Northwest suburban volleyball players making the trek to Aurora these days.

So Rick Butler is bringing Sports Performance to them.

Sports Performance is one of several tenants scheduled to occupy the Lake Barrington Field House under construction off Pepper Road just north of Route 14 in Lake Barrington. Other occupants will include Sky High Volleyball, Lacrosse America and the Barrington Area Soccer Association.

The massive 175,000-square foot facility, which is scheduled to welcome tenants beginning November 1, will include a single artificial field turf playing surface that will accommodate a full-size soccer field, two baseball/softball diamonds, a full-size football field or a full-size lacrosse field.

The facility will also feature 40,000-square feet of maple hardwood court surface that can accommodate eight volleyball courts or four basketball courts. The courts have a 30-foot clear height roof.

Occupants will also include Kessel's Training, a leading provider of camps, clinics and private instruction in basketball and volleyball, and ProSport, a unique sports training and rehab facility that is the leading provider of sports enhancement and rehabilitation in Chicagoland.

"What we wanted to do was bring a Division I level training facility to the youth sports market in the Barrington area," said Tom Laue, the developer of the Lake Barrington Field House.

Sports Performance will try to tap into that market and attract more youngsters to the sport of volleyball with its "Sports Elite Volleyball Club" based at the Field House.

"Compared to soccer and basketball, the numbers involved in youth and junior volleyball are pretty small," Butler said. "We want to make volleyball affordable, and we want to make it available to more people."

By providing quality training and quality competition for boys and girls from the youth development level up, Butler hopes to grow the sport in an area that has recently produced some of the most successful high school teams in Illinois.

"It's a good move not only for us, but for the sport of volleyball," he said.

Posted by Back Row at 8:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

By Phil Brozynski

The burning question is not who is going to be good this fall - the usual suspects like Naperville Central, Mother McAuley, Benet and Downers Grove South are among the easier choices. The question is, who's going to be good in 2010?

Based on the success that many sophomores-to-be enjoyed on the club circuit this summer, the answer is: a lot of teams.

Three members of the Sports Performance 15-Frosh team earned All-Star honors at the AAU Junior National Championships in Orlando earlier this summer. The trio was led by Hinsdale Central's 5-foot-8 defensive whiz Natalia Skiba.

"I think Natalia is going to make a huge impact as a sophomore," said Sports Performance 15-Frosh coach Amanda DeGrandis. "She is a defensive specialist with incredible ball control, but she'll also probably do a little bit of hitting."

Skiba was among a handful of area freshmen who appeared on their school's varsity roster during the 2007 season.

"It's exciting to think how many great opportunities are ahead of her," DeGrandis said.

The other two All-Stars were Benet's Kathleen Severyn and Waubonsie Valley's Martha Stewart. Severyn will find it tough to crack the varsity lineup at Benet, but DeGrandis expects big things from the 5-10 hitter in the future.

Other members of the Sports Performance 15-Frosh team - which finished second in the Club Divisions at the JVDA and AAU national championships - are Naperville Central's Chloe Lupina and Katie Battle, Laurie Duncan of St. Francis and Jenna Eisses of Waubonsie Valley.

Rounding out the roster are Sarah Hasselhorst of Naperville North, 5-11 setter Lindsay Juriga of Rosary and Ashley Veselik of Benet.

"Severyn is going to have a big impact on whichever team she plays on, and Juriga will be an outstanding setter in a 6-2 offense at Rosary," DeGrandis said.

The Sports Performance 15 Elite team tied for fifth at the JVDA championships in Louisville and placed 14th in the Open Division at the AAU championships. That team included St. Francis' Meg Vonderhaar, a JVDA all-tournament selection, and Hinsdale Central's Jamie Netisingha.

However, Sports Performance did not have a monopoly on talented sophomores-to-be during the just-concluded club season. Sky High 15 Black tied for fifth place at both the JVDA and AAU championships.

Among the top performers for Sky High 15 Black was Cary-Grove's 5-11 sophomore-to-be Kelly Lamberti, who was named to the AAU All-American team. Lamberti already has a year of varsity volleyball on her resume and only figures to get better during the 2008 high school season.

Lamberti's Sky High 15 Black teammates included libero Kelsey Nobilio and outside Carly Schmidt of Johnsburg and 6-4 outside hitter Ellen Chapman of Glenbrook South, the latter representing Sky High on the all-tournament team.

Meanwhile, Sky High 15 Red finished fifth in the Club Division in Orlando. New Trier's Cami Beghou and Woodstock setter Christie Jacobson are joined by three players apiece from Marian Central and Cary-Grove on the Sky High 15 Red roster.

Kristin Brocker, Shelby Cassesse and Erica Kadl should be building blocks for future Marian Central teams, while Krista Schott, Sam Mainzer and Allison Whimpey hope to power future Fox Valley contenders at Cary-Grove.

Other sophomores to watch include St. Edward's 5-6 defender Margie Haggenjos, Wheaton Academy outside Molly McCoy and 6-1 middle Maureen Johnson of Crystal Lake South, who helped Club Fusion 15 Black tie for seventh in the Open Division in Louisville.

Five-11 setter/opposite hitter Madison Lang of Barrington and St. Charles East's 5-11 Michelle Gross were among the top players for Fusion 15 White, which tied for fifth place in the Club Division at the JVDA championships.

Posted by Back Row at 6:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBacks (0)

By Phil Brozynski

John Tawa of Prepvolleyball.com recently announced his list of the top recruiting classes of 2008, and to no surprise Illinoisans played a prominent role in determining who had the best off-season among the country’s top collegiate volleyball programs.

Florida came in at No. 1 in Tawa’s survey. The Gators snared the No. 1 high school player in the country last year in Joliet Catholic’s 6-foot-2 left-handed setter/right side Kelly Murphy, then added Naperville North’s 6-2 outside Colleen Murphy.

Texas landed in the No. 2 spot in no small measure thanks to 5-10 setter Michelle Kocher of Wheaton St. Francis, who teamed with Murphy and Ward to lead Sports Performance 18 Elite to an unbeaten season and the JVDA national title.

Perennial Midwest powerhouse Nebraska also got into the Illinois act, adding 6-1 outside hitter Jordan Haverly of Keith Country Day near Rockford. Haverly helped Nebraska finish at No. 6 in Tawa’s rankings.

Outside hitter Becca Zlabis of Wheaton Warrenville South, who at times was the most dominant player on the Sports Performance 18 Elite team, and Mother McAuley’s libero Carli Weiler helped Michigan State check in at No. 7.

Big Ten members Minnesota (No. 12) and Illinois (No. 20) also cracked Tawa’s list thanks to some local talent.

Sandburg setter Alex Blatt, a former USA Junior National Team member, will pair with former Rosary standout Christine Hartmann to give the Gophers two of the best setters to ever grace the Chicago suburbs.

Meanwhile, Illinois coach Don Hardin’s biggest coup was landing 6-3 middle/outside hitter Michelle Bartsch of Collinsville, who Tawa believes can start immediately for the Illini women. She will be joined by liberos Catherine Culligan (St. Francis) and Rachel Feldman (Normal).

Georgia added 5-9 libero Carla Tietz of St. Charles North to round out Tawa’s list of top recruiting classes at No. 30.

***

Among the Midwestern colleges and universities breaking into the list of highest honorable mention recruiting classes were Iowa (Joanna Giampoli of Hinsdale South and Paige Stevens of Neuqua Valley) and Northwestern (Kathryn Chrystal of Crystal Lake Central).

High honorable mention choices included Loyola-Chicago (Marist’s 6-3 Natalie Pounovich), Seton Hall (Meghan Matusiak of St. Francis and Crystal Lake Central’s Rachael Thornquist), and Toledo (Plainfield North’s Amber DeWeerdt and Waubonsie Valley’s Kassie Kadera).

***

Looking ahead to 2009, Ole Miss has received commitments from Payton’s Courtney Cunningham and Downers Grove South’s Marielle Oestermeyer, and Illinois has commitments from Jessica Jendryk of Benet and Erin Johnson of Crystal Lake South.

Also, Glenbard East’s Amanda Peterson has committed to Ohio State, Illinois-Chicago has received commitments from Kelsey Safranek of Downers South and Aubrey Sniegowski of Lemont, and Sycamore’s Samantha Thrower has thrown in her lot with Indiana.

Posted by Back Row at 6:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

By Phil Brozynski

There is some question whether Hampshire will compete in Class 2A or 3A during the 2008-2009 school year (Hampshire is appealing IHSA executive director Marty Hickman’s ruling that the school is 3A following an anticipated influx of nearly 200 new students due to a boundary change).

But there’s no question that Hampshire has some pretty classy volleyball players.

Sisters Kara and Amy Wehrs were named to the all-tournament team at last weekend’s Junior Volleyball Director’s Association (JVDA) National Championships in Louisville, Kentucky after helping top-seeded Club Fusion 16 Black win the 16 Open title.

Only two weeks ago, Kara Wehrs, a 5-foot-11 setter, was named the most outstanding player after leading Fusion over 1st Alliance for the 16s title at the PrepVolleyball.com Classic in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin.

However, last weekend at the JVDA tournament, MVP honors went to the Wehrs’ teammate Stephanie Holthus, a 5-11 outside from Burlington Central. Holthus rallied Fusion to a 21-25, 21-25, 25-18, 28-26, 15-13 victory over MAVA 16 Elite in the title match.

Another standout in the match for Fusion was Plainfield North’s Kylee Baker, a powerful and promising 6-foot outside hitter whose move to libero to start game three coincided with Fusion’s big rally.

The rest of the Fusion roster included Prairie Ridge’s Taylor Brauneis, Barrington’s Emily Harris, Crystal Lake Central’s Julie Jeziorwoski, Marian Central’s Mary Kate Manning and Deerfield’s Taylor Stanfel.

***

The south side of Chicago was also represented in the winner’s circle at Louisville when Celtic Force 17 Green defeated Milwaukee Sting 17 Black 25-17, 25-22 to win the 17 Club division. Celtic Force came all the way back after losing two early pool matches.

Leading the way for Celtic Force was 17 Club MVP Kelly Griffin of Mother McAuley, who figures to lead the Mighty Macs back to Bloomington in November.

Among Griffin’s Celtic Force teammates were McAuley classmates Catherine and Delores Wildner, Mount Assisi’s Mary Broadhurst and Providence’s Kayla Duffy and Mary Kate Schmidt. Duffy and Broadhurst also made the all-tournament team.

***

It was no surprise that Sports Performance 18 Elite finished an 83-0 campaign by beating Asics Munciana Samurai 25-18, 26-24, 26-24 in the JVDA 18 Open championship match in front of an estimated 1,500 people.

Behind MVP and Joliet Catholic graduate Kelly Murphy, Sports Performance dropped just two games all weekend.

What was a little surprising was that the 18 group was not the only Sports Performance team to bring home some championship hardware.

Sports Performance’s 17 Mizuno team, which features some of the top seniors-to-be in the western suburbs, defeated tournament MVP Hannah Werth and top-seeded Illini Elite 17 Cardinal 22-25, 25-23, 25-22, 25-23 to win the 17 Open title.

Sports Performance’s Amanda Peterson (Glenbard East), Natalie Patzin (Benet) and Emily McGee (Naperville Central) were named to the all-tournament team. The roster also includes Naperville Central’s Meghan Bray and Benet’s Ariana Mankus.

Posted by Back Row at 8:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)