The blind drawing that determines the state final pairings in bracketed team sports was held at the IHSA Office on Friday, September 27, starting at approximately 8:15 am. 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 26.
Mike Manahan, wrestling coach at Heyworth High School, 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 Collinsville Super-Sectional
Pea #2 represents winner of Hoffman Estates (H.S.) Super-Sectional
Pea #3 represents winner of Lisle (Sr.) Super-Sectional
Pea #4 represents winner of Urbana (University) Super-Sectional
Bracket drawing:
Semifinal bracket position #1: pea #4, Urbana (University) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #2: pea #2, Hoffman Estates (H.S.) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #3: pea #1, Collinsville Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #4: pea #3, Lisle (Sr.) Super-Sectional
Boys Class 2A Soccer
Starting lineup:
Pea #1 represents winner of Hampshire Super-Sectional
Pea #2 represents winner of Lemont (H.S.) Super-Sectional
Pea #3 represents winner of Lincolnshire (Stevenson) Super-Sectional
Pea #4 represents winner of Springfield (UIS) Super-Sectional
Bracket drawing:
Semifinal bracket position #1: pea #3, Lincolnshire (Stevenson) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #2: pea #2, Lemont (H.S.) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #3: pea #1, Hampshire Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #4: pea #4, Springfield (UIS) Super-Sectional
Boys Class 3A Soccer
Starting lineup:
Pea #1 represents winner of Arlington Heights (Hersey) Super-Sectional
Pea #2 represents winner of Bartlett Super-Sectional
Pea #3 represents winner of Normal (Community) Super-Sectional
Pea #4 represents winner of Romeoville (Lewis U.) Super-Sectional
Bracket drawing:
Semifinal bracket position #1: pea #2, Bartlett Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #2: pea #1, Arlington Heights (Hersey) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #3: pea #4, Romeoville (Lewis U.) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #4: pea #3, Normal (Community) Super-Sectional
Girls Class 1A Volleyball
Starting lineup:
Pea #1 represents winner of Elgin (Westminster Christian) Super-Sectional
Pea #2 represents winner of Marissa Super-Sectional
Pea #3 represents winner of Mt. Pulaski Super-Sectional
Pea #4 represents winner of Nokomis Super-Sectional
Bracket drawing:
Semifinal bracket position #1: pea #1, Elgin (Westminster Christian) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #2: pea #3, Mt. Pulaski Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #3: pea #2, Marissa Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #4: pea #4, Nokomis Super-Sectional
Girls Class 2A Volleyball
Starting lineup:
Pea #1 represents winner of Lisle (Sr.) Super-Sectional
Pea #2 represents winner of Manlius (Bureau Valley) Super-Sectional
Pea #3 represents winner of McLeansboro (Hamilton County) Super-Sectional
Pea #4 represents winner of Warrensburg (W.-Latham) Super-Sectional
Bracket drawing:
Semifinal bracket position #1: pea #4, Warrensburg (W.-Latham) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #2: pea #1, Lisle (Sr.) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #3: pea #2, Manlius (Bureau Valley) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #4: pea #3, McLeansboro (Hamilton County) Super-Sectional
Girls Class 3A Volleyball
Starting lineup:
Pea #1 represents winner of Antioch Super-Sectional
Pea #2 represents winner of Effingham (H.S.) Super-Sectional
Pea #3 represents winner of Joliet (Catholic Academy) Super-Sectional
Pea #4 represents winner of Washington Super-Sectional
Bracket drawing:
Semifinal bracket position #1: pea #1, Antioch Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #2: pea #4, Washington Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #3: pea #2, Effingham (H.S.) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #4: pea #3, Joliet (Catholic Academy) Super-Sectional
Girls Class 4A Volleyball
Starting lineup:
Pea #1 represents winner of Huntley Super-Sectional
Pea #2 represents winner of LaGrange (Lyons) Super-Sectional
Pea #3 represents winner of Normal (Community) Super-Sectional
Pea #4 represents winner of St. Charles (East) Super-Sectional
Bracket drawing:
Semifinal bracket position #1: pea #1, Huntley Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #2: pea #3, Normal (Community) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #3: pea #2, LaGrange (Lyons) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #4: pea #4, St. Charles (East) 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 #4 and the winner of Regional #3.
- The second sectional semifinal will pair the winner of Regional #2 and the winner of Regional #1.
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.