The blind drawing that determines the state final pairings in bracketed team sports was held at the IHSA Office on Wednesday, September 21, starting at approximately 1:30 p.m. This drawing covered the fall sports of boys soccer and girls volleyball. Boys football, which operates under a different system, will be paired on Football Pairings Night, October 22.
Randy Kindred, sportswriter for the Bloomington Pantagraph, made the drawings. Traditionally, the pairings are made by ordering the sites that feed into the state finals in alphabetical order and numbering them from 1 to 4. Then the numbered peas are drawn from a bottle. The number on the first pea drawn represents the site whose winner will occupy the first position on the bracket, and so on.
Boys Class 1A Soccer
Starting lineup:
Pea #1 represents winner of TBA Super-Sectional (central Illinois)
Pea #2 represents winner of Chicago (DePaul U.) Super-Sectional
Pea #3 represents winner of Naperville (Central) Super-Sectional
Pea #4 represents winner of O'Fallon (H.S.) Super-Sectional
Bracket drawing:
Semifinal bracket position #1: pea #1, TBA Super-Sectional (central Illinois)
Semifinal bracket position #2: pea #3, Naperville (Central) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #3: pea #2, Chicago (DePaul U.) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #4: pea #4, O'Fallon (H.S.) Super-Sectional
Boys Class 2A Soccer
Starting lineup:
Pea #1 represents winner of DeKalb Super-Sectional
Pea #2 represents winner of TBA Super-Sectional (Chicago area)
Pea #3 represents winner of Peoria (Notre Dame) Super-Sectional
Pea #4 represents winner of Springfield (UIS) Super-Sectional
Bracket drawing:
Semifinal bracket position #1: pea #3, Peoria (Notre Dame) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #2: pea #2, TBA Super-Sectional (Chicago area)
Semifinal bracket position #3: pea #4, Springfield (UIS) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #4: pea #1, DeKalb Super-Sectional
Boys Class 3A Soccer
Starting lineup:
Pea #1 represents winner of Barrington Super-Sectional
Pea #2 represents winner of Lisle (Benedictine U.) Super-Sectional
Pea #3 represents winner of Normal (Community) Super-Sectional
Pea #4 represents winner of Park Ridge (Maine South) Super-Sectional
Bracket drawing:
Semifinal bracket position #1: pea #3, Normal (Community) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #2: pea #4, Park Ridge (Maine South) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #3: pea #1, Barrington Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #4: pea #2, Lisle (Benedictine U.) Super-Sectional
Girls Class 1A Volleyball
Starting lineup:
Pea #1 represents winner of Bridgeport (Red Hill) Super-Sectional
Pea #2 represents winner of Danville (Schlarman) Super-Sectional
Pea #3 represents winner of Hanover (River Ridge) Super-Sectional
Pea #4 represents winner of Hartsburg (H.-Emden) Super-Sectional
Bracket drawing:
Semifinal bracket position #1: pea #1, Bridgeport (Red Hill) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #2: pea #3, Hanover (River Ridge) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #3: pea #4, Hartsburg (H.-Emden) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #4: pea #2, Danville (Schlarman) Super-Sectional
Girls Class 2A Volleyball
Starting lineup:
Pea #1 represents winner of Farmington Super-Sectional
Pea #2 represents winner of Harrisburg Super-Sectional
Pea #3 represents winner of Lisle (Sr.) Super-Sectional
Pea #4 represents winner of Stanford (Olympia) Super-Sectional
Bracket drawing:
Semifinal bracket position #1: pea #4, Stanford (Olympia) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #2: pea #1, Farmington Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #3: pea #3, Lisle (Sr.) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #4: pea #2, Harrisburg Super-Sectional
Girls Class 3A Volleyball
Starting lineup:
Pea #1 represents winner of Jerseyville (Jersey) Super-Sectional
Pea #2 represents winner of New Lenox (Lincoln-Way West) Super-Sectional
Pea #3 represents winner of Park Forest (Rich East) Super-Sectional
Pea #4 represents winner of Woodstock (North) Super-Sectional
Bracket drawing:
Semifinal bracket position #1: pea #1, Jerseyville (Jersey) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #2: pea #2, New Lenox (Lincoln-Way West) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #3: pea #4, Woodstock (North) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #4: pea #3, Park Forest (Rich East) Super-Sectional
Girls Class 4A Volleyball
Starting lineup:
Pea #1 represents winner of Darien (Hinsdale South) Super-Sectional
Pea #2 represents winner of Elmhurst (York) Super-Sectional
Pea #3 represents winner of Lake Zurich Super-Sectional
Pea #4 represents winner of Normal (Community) Super-Sectional
Bracket drawing:
Semifinal bracket position #1: pea #4, Normal (Community) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #2: pea #2, Elmhurst (York) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #3: pea #3, Lake Zurich Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #4: pea #1, Darien (Hinsdale South) Super-Sectional
Sectional Pairings
In both boys soccer and girls volleyball, some sectionals are seeded at the regional level. Those champions of those regionals will be paired randomly at the sectional, according to the following system:
- The names of the four regional sites will be alphabetized according to standard IHSA naming protocol and numbered from 1 to 4.
- The first sectional semifinal will pair the winner of Regional #3 and the winner of Regional #2.
- The second sectional semifinal will pair the winner of Regional #1 and the winner of Regional #4.
An exception to these pairings is made for the southernmost sectional in the following tournaments: Class 3A boys soccer and Class 4A girls volleyball. In these sectionals, the two regional winners from the Metro-East area will be paired in one semifinal and play at a local site. The winners of the other two regionals will play their semifinal at another site. The winners of these two games will play at the sectional site.