IHSA Top 50 Volleyball

IHSA Top 50 Volleyball

Top 50 IHSA Volleyball Programs | 1974-2024

The IHSA will conduct the 50th edition of its Girls Volleyball State Series in 2024, culminating with the 50th State Final matches at CEFCU Arena in Normal on Friday & Saturday, November 15-16. To help commemorate the milestone, the IHSA compiled a committee of current and former high school volleyball coaches, administrators, and media members to select the Top 50 Volleyball Programs during the State Series era (1974 to 2024).

To see the Top 50 release schedule, what programs have been recognized so far, and read more about IHSA girls volleyball history, see the tabs below...

#6
DOWNERS GROVE SOUTH HIGH SCHOOL
Regional Titles: 20
District Titles: 3
Sectional Titles: 14
State Final Trophies: 10
State Championship Appearances/Titles: 7/3
1992-AA: McAuley 2, Downers Grove South 1                       36-6
1993-AA: Lockport 2, Downers Grove South 0                       38-5
1994-AA: McAuley 2, Downers Grove South 0                       35-8
1996-AA: Downers Grove South 2, McAuley 1                       36-7
1997-AA: McAuley 2, Downers Grove South 1                       37-6
1999-AA: Downers Grove South 2, Althoff 0                           36-5
2002-AA: Downers Grove South 2, Barrington 0                    38-4
State Final Coaches: Judy Griesheim (1992, 1993), Denise Lazzeroni-Kavanaugh (1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002), Colleen Reagan (2004)
First Team All-State Players: 1982 – Kathy Griesheim; 1983 – Gwen Zemaitis; 1992 – Tracy Black, Terri Zemaitis; 1993 – Tracy Black, Terri Zemaitis; 1994 – Tracy Black, Tracey Marshall; 1995 – Tracey Marshall; 1996 – Liz Ortegel; 1997 – Chantel Reedus; 1998 – Chantel Reedus; 1999 – Michelle Chatman, Lindsey Filkins; 2000 – Shannon Parker, Michelle Chatman; 2001 – Meghan Macdonald, Shannon Parker; 2002 – Meghan Macdonald; 2003 – Jackie Simpson; 2004 – Jeannette Abbott.

DGS: It’s safe to say many high school volleyball programs would love to swap histories with Downers Grove South, whose glory days, alas, took place more than 20 years ago. The Mustangs’ light never burned brighter than during an 11-year stretch that ended in 2002 and brought three Class AA state titles and four runner-up efforts among nine trophies total. Downers Grove South’s ascension to state prominence began in 1992 when Judy Griesheim coached a 36-6 team to second in Class AA behind Chicago Mother McAuley. In 1993, Griesheim’s 38-5 group, led by all-staters Terri Zemaitis and Tracy Black, took second again behind Lockport. After Denise Lazzeroni-Kavanaugh became coach, her 35-8 squad of 1994 earned yet another runner-up finish behind McAuley. In 1995, Lazzeroni-Kavanaugh’s 39-4 crew dropped to third before winning the school’s first state title in 1996 by a score of 15-12, 10-15, 15-13 over McAuley to finish 36-7. The Mustangs’ go-to-girl in 1996 was senior Tracey Marshall, who was named Illinois Gatorade Player of the Year. She later led Illinois to two NCAA appearances as the first African-American scholarship player in Fighting Illini history. Marshall was ranked among the top 100 players in state history by Illprepvb.com along with fellow Mustangs Jeannette Abbott, Meghan Macdonald, and Jackie Simpson. Before placing second in 1997 at 37-6, Lazzeroni-Kavanaugh addressed the issue of high expectations. “Every year we have a different team and they don’t dwell really on the past,” she told The Daily Herald. “They really look toward the future.” The 36-5 state title team of 1999 included 6-0 Florida-recruit Michelle Chatman and 5-10 Illinois-Chicago-bound Lindsey Filkins, who helped beat Belleville Althoff in the final, 15-8, 15-5. The star setter of the program’s 39-3 state third-place squad in 2000 was Cincinnati-recruit Shannon Parker, who finished with 2,908 career assists, the 17th most in state history. Abbott, Macdonald, and Simpson all played for the 38-4 state championship team of 2002 when Macdonald was named the Illinois Gatorade Player of the Year. She later played at Illinois while Abbott went to Clemson and Simpson to Wisconsin.  Prior to the 2002 state tourney in which the Mustangs topped Barrington in the final (15-13, 15-11), Lazzeroni-Kavanaugh said, “Our goal every year is to shoot for a state championship.” After that match, Lazzeroni-Kavanaugh ended her nine-year Hall of Fame coaching career with a 324-51 record before becoming Downers Grove North’s athletic director. Downers Grove South’s 10th and final state trophy came in 2004 for fourth, capping a 37-6 season. Since then, the Mustangs have seen 15 seasons end in the regional, three in the sectional, and one during a pandemic.

Denise Kavanaugh took DGS from Cinderella to Unstoppable Force: Read here
 

The IHSA will release the Top 50 Volleyball Programs on the corresponding dates below...

Learn more about the selection process here.

   #50:   August 13

   #49:   August 14

   #48:   August 16

   #47:   August 19

   #46:   August 21

   #45:   August 23

   #44:   August 26

   #43:   August 28

   #42:   August 30

   #41:   September 2

   #40:   September 4

   #39:   September 6

   #38:   September 9

   #37:   September 11

   #36:   September 13

   #35:   September 16

   #34:   September 18

   #33:   September 20

   #32:   September 23

   #31:   September 25

   #30:   September 27

   #29:   September 30

   #28:   October 2

   #27:   October 4

   #26:   October 7

   #25:   October 9

   #24:   October 11

   #23:   October 14

   #22:   October 16

   #21:   October 18

   #20:   October 21

   #19:   October 23

   #18:   October 25

   #17:   October 28

   #16:   October 29

   #15:   October 30

   #14:   October 31

   #13:   November 1

   #12:   November 4

   #11:   November 5

   #10:   November 6

   #9:     November 7

   #8:     November 8

   #7:     November 9

   #6:     November 11

   #5:     November 12

   #4:     November 13

   #3:     November 14

   #2:     November 15

   #1:     November 16

The following programs just missed the cut in making the list of the Top 50 IHSA Girls Volleyball Programs from 1974-2024, but received votes from multiple committee members:

  • Aquin | Freeport
  • Centennial | Champaign
  • Edwardsville
  • Galena
  • Genoa-Kingston
  • Glenbard West | Glen Ellyn
  • Heyworth
  • Keith Country Day | Rockford
  • LaSalle-Peru
  • Libertyville
  • Lisle Senior
  • Marian Catholic | Chicago Heights
  • Metea Valley | Aurora
  • Montini Catholic | Lombard
  • Naperville North
  • Nazareth Academy | LaGrange Park
  • Norris City-Omaha-Enfield
  • Pana
  • Providence Catholic | New Lenox
  • Riverton
  • Seymour | Payson
  • Shelbyville
  • Southeastern | Augusta
  • Sterling
  • Stevenson | Lincolnshire
  • St. Teresa | Decatur
     

IHSA partner, Minerva Promotions, is offering exclusive IHSA Top 50 Girls Volleyball Program gear for the schools who have been selected. You can order gear here and see samples below.

CUSTOMISED BACK OF SHIRT BY PROGRAM



STANDARD FRONT OF SHIRT

 

#50
LANE TECH COLLEGE PREP | CHICAGO
Regional Titles: 4 *
Chicago Public League Titles: 10
State Final Qualifications/Trophies: 9/0
State Final Coaches: Ron Borck (1983, 1993, 1996, 1999, 2000), Armand Graupera (1986, 1987, 1989, 1990)
First Team All-State Players: 1986 – Diane Kruto

Lane Tech: Illinois high school girls were first permitted to play interscholastic volleyball matches in 1973. A year later, the Illinois High School Association saw 481 schools enter post-season play (compared to about 700 nowadays) which culminated in the first state tournament at Eastern Illinois University’s Lantz Gymnasium. Between 1974 and 2001, the champion of the 65-team Chicago Public League gained automatic entry into the IHSA state tournament quarterfinals (except in 1976 when the CPL champion entered at the Sweet 16 level). After a two-class system was introduced in 1977, the CPL qualifiers played in Class AA. The most frequent CPL entrant among the league’s 11 state qualifiers all-time was Chicago Lane Tech, which made nine state trips between 1983 and 2000. Tying for the second most state visits were Morgan Park, Payton, and Simeon with three each. Alas, no CPL team reached the semifinals until Payton placed fourth in Class 3A in 2008. The winningest of the Indians’ state entrants was the 1989 squad that finished 33-4 under Coach Armand Graupera. After winning the CPL title over Hyde Park that year to advance to the Elite Eight, Graupera told the media, “This is the best defensive team we’ve ever had.” That defense, however, could not prevent a 15-3, 12-15, 16-14 quarterfinal loss to LaGrange Lyons. The Lane Tech state qualifier with the highest winning percentage (at .935) was Graupera’s 29-2 squad of 1986. That team, which was extended to three sets only twice during the regular season, was led by 5-foot-8 Diane Kruto and 6-1 Kim Gervais. Graupera’s state-qualifying team of 1987, which featured four returning starters, overcame schedule disruptions caused by a 19-day teachers’ strike to finish 24-5-1. Lane Tech’s 11-year run of CPL titles from 1980 to 1990 began with Ron Borck as coach. The most successful of his five state-qualifying teams were the 23-10 squad of 1999 and the 23-12 unit of 2000. Borck, who coached every sport at Lane Tech except football during a 38-year teaching career, retired after the 2000 season with a 322-113-9 record over 16 years that spanned two stints as volleyball coach.
* Chicago Public Schools did not compete for IHSA Regionals or Sectionals until 2003.


#49
JOHN HERSEY HIGH SCHOOL | ARLINGTON HEIGHTS
Regional Titles: 29
District Titles: 1
Sectional Titles: 8
State Final Trophies: 3
State Championship Appearances/Titles: 1/0
1988-AA: Jacksonville 2, Hersey 0    (35-8)
State Final Coach: Nancy (Rimdzius) Lill (1988, 1993, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2004)
First Team All-State Players: 1988 – Amy Peistrup; 1989 – Karlin Sander; 1990 – Kim Nieman; 1994 – Karen Stewart; 1995 – Abbie Willenborg; 2000 – Janet Goreham; 2005 – Megan Fesl; 2006 – Annie Fesl; 2012 – Abby Fesl; 2019 – Kati Kaburov.

Hersey: Roughly 700 schools enter the IHSA state series each year. A shared attribute among many top teams is coaching continuity. Hersey got that and more from Nancy Lill, who finished with a 1,045-317-5 record to rank fourth in wins in state history. During the Hall of Famer’s 1988-to-2021 tenure at Hersey, she won 27 regionals, eight sectionals, and six super-sectionals. Lill’s best state showing came in 1988. That 35-8 squad lost to Jacksonville in the Class AA final, 19-17, 15-7. Hersey’s star in 1988 was 5-foot-10 Amy Peistrup, who had 368 kills and 236 assists during the regular season. “Amy may be the most efficient player in the state,” her coach said. “Of all the all-staters, in four years I think Amy will go the farthest. She’ll be a great setter in college.” That prediction came true as Peistrup became an All-American at North Carolina and later played professional beach volleyball. Hersey’s second state trophy was for third in 1993. That 35-6-1 squad, which had no seniors, included 5-11 Missouri-recruit Renee Rosinski. The 1994 Huskies, who went 37-4, returned to the Elite Eight where they were eliminated in the quarterfinals by eventual champion Chicago Mother McAuley, 15-7, 16-14. “I don’t think we played our best match,” Lill told the media. “The mental errors killed us.” Hersey’s last state trophy – for fourth in 1997 – capped a 21-20-1 season that set a state record for most losses by a Final Four qualifier. Hersey’s standouts that year included 5-8 Laurie Anderson, who hit a modest .200 during the season, but caught fire in the post-season, hitting .313. Among the stars in 1999 was Jessica Brizzolara, who had over 800 assists.  “She is one of the top setters in the state,” Lill said. In 2000, 6-0 DePaul-recruit Janet Goreham finished with a then school-record 876 career kills. Hersey’s most recent state trip – and last sectional title – came in 2004 when it finished 32-8. That squad included 6-1 junior Megan Fesl, who went on to tally a school-record 1,141 career kills before playing at Notre Dame. Fesl’s sisters, Abby and Annie, also starred at Hersey. Annie Fesl, a Cincinnati recruit, finished her prep career in 2006 with a school-record 2,465 assists. In 2012, Abby Fesl, who later played at North Florida and Ohio State, upped that assist record to 2,568. Hersey’s star in 2019 was 5-11 Kati Kaburov, who extended the school record for career kills to 1,381 before playing at Boston College and Lehigh.


#48
NEW TRIER HIGH SCHOOL | WINNETKA
Regional Titles: 29
District Titles: 5
Sectional Titles: 14
State Final Trophies: 3
State Championship Appearances/Titles: 2/1
1974: New Trier East 2, Rich East 1     (16-1)
2012-4A: Benet 2, New Trier 1    (39-2)
State Final Coaches: Bonnie Beach (1974), Hannah Hsieh (2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2012, 2013)
First Team All-State Players: 2000 – Alexis Geocaris; 2013 – Taylor Tashima.

New Trier: If the state volleyball tournament had charter members, New Trier would surely be one. In the 1974-75 season, when the school was known as New Trier East, it won the inaugural, single-class state championship over Park Forest Rich East, 15-10, 6-15, 15-3, at Charleston in January of 1975 to cap a 16-1 season for Coach Bonnie Beach. (Nowadays, schools can play a maximum of 35 matches including four tournaments. The IHSA switched to a two-class system in 1977 and a four-class system in 2007. It adopted 25-point rally scoring in 2003). So far, fate and talented foes have denied the Indians (they became Trevians in 1981 when New Trier East and New Trier West combined to form New Trier) a second state title, but their status as a perennial volleyball powerhouse is indisputable. New Trier’s collection of regional/district titles – 34 in all – has grown every decade since the 1970s. Most recently the school of over 4,200 students earned Class 4A state trophies for second in 2012 (39-2) and third in 2013 (31-4). In 1974, Beach focused on managing pressure. “The pressure was more internal than external,” she told the media. “I think they’ve known all along they were capable of being state champions.” New Trier East’s only loss in 1974 came against Oak Park, 15-4, 15-1. Beach labeled the state tournament “really exciting, probably even more so because we didn’t know the other teams and how they played.” In the Elite Eight, New Trier East opened with a quarterfinal win over Rockford West before downing Red Bud (enrollment 525) in the semifinals. A crowd of 2,500 watched the final, quite a change from New Trier East’s usual audience of 50 to 75 fans. Two of Beach’s stars, Janet Roberts and Lauren Goebel, made the all-tournament team. When the squad returned to Winnetka, it was greeted with a police escort. Over the ensuing decades, New Trier won nine more sectionals before returning to the state tourney in 2012. Coach Hannah Hsieh’s 2012 team had four future Division I players in 6-foot setter Taylor Tashima (Northwestern), 6-3 Haley Fauntleroy (Virginia), 6-5 Sarah Shafiq (California), and libero Emmy Friedler (Penn). After losing to Benet, 21-25, 25-22, 25-17, in the 2012 final, Hsieh said, “We weren’t making some of the adjustments that we wanted to make on defense quickly, and then we played a little bit tight on offense and made some unforced errors.” In 2013, Tashima was named the Chicago Sun-Times Player of the Year. She later played professionally in Switzerland. Hsieh, who began coaching at New Trier in 1996, took a 763-266 record into the 2024 season, leaving the Hall of Famer 24th in state history for most wins.

 

#47
PRINCETON HIGH SCHOOL | PRINCETON
Regional Titles: 19

District Titles: 4
Sectional Titles: 11
State Final Trophies: 2
State Championship Appearances/Titles: 1/1
1990-A: Princeton 2, Huntley 0     (36-2-1)

State Final Coaches: Rita Placek (1980, 1990, 1994), Andy Puck (2008)

First Team All-State Players: 1990 – Nicole Coates.


Princeton: The pinnacle of Princeton volleyball came in 1990 when Coach Rita Placek’s 36-2-1 Tigresses came from behind in both sets to top Huntley in the Class A state final, 15-12, 16-14. Known for their strong serving, the Tigresses notched a still-standing state record of 503 aces in 1990. “This is the best team I have ever coached,” Placek said. “We have three good hitters, and the others carry their load.”  Those Tigresses remain the only team in any sport in Princeton history to win a state title. Their leaders in the final were all-tournament selections Nicole Coates (15 kills), Tina Forth (18 assists), and Karen Flaherty (three kills). “Ever since I was little, I wanted to play in the state tournament,” said Coates, who later played at Notre Dame. “My mom was a referee here and I would watch from the stands.” Placek’s first state-qualifying squad was her 19-5 team in 1980 that lost to Immaculate Conception in the quarterfinals. Among Princeton’s standouts that year was Mary Bouxsein, who still holds the state record for career aces with 573 over 87 matches (6.5 per match). Bouxsein twice had 22 aces in a single match (against Sterling in 1978 and Henry in 1981), marks that rank second in state history behind the record of 26 set by Nashville’s Sherri Heseman in 1978. Placek’s final state trip in 1994 saw her Tigresses lose in the quarterfinals to Huntley to finish 28-7-2. Her leaders were four-year starter Megan Laine, a setter, and three-year starters Janda Forristall and Courtney Sapp, both hitters. The tallest Tigresse was the 5-foot-9 Forristall. “In Princeton, we don’t grow them very tall,” lamented Placek. “The tall people live in another town.” In 1998, Placek retired with a record of 493-176-12 over 25 years. She won five conference titles, 16 regionals, and nine sectionals. In 2002, Andy Puck took over as coach and, in 2008, returned Princeton to the state tournament. That 28-11-2 Class 2A fourth-place squad was led by 6-1 Leah Shaw, who in three years on the varsity helped Princeton go 90-27. She later played at Illinois Central College and Bowling Green State University.



#46
CENTRAL CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL | BLOOMINGTON
Regional Titles: 10
Sectional Titles: 5
State Final Trophies: 4
State Championship Appearances/Titles: 1/1
2015-2A: Central Catholic 2, Orion 0   (35-5)
State Final Coaches: Daniel Rolph (2003), Emily Kauten (2010), JR Banister (2015, 2016)
First Team All-State Players: 1997 – Jenny Kabbes; 2015 – Kate Hoerdemann; 2016 – Maddie Holt.

Central Catholic: The Bloomington Central Catholic volleyball program was born in 1979 and played a four-week, seven-match season. Early efforts produced records of 2-18 in 1981, 3-13 in 1982, and 5-12-2 in 1983. Fortunes improved in 1993 when Tony Gliwa became coach. By 1996, he had the Saints winning a school-record 13 matches. In 1997, the star of an 18-11-1 squad was 6-footer Jenny Kabbes, who averaged 5.5 kills per match before going on to play at Illinois State University. Central slumped to 9-16 in 1999 but bounced back in 2000 under first-year coach Daniel Rolph, whose arrival coincided with an infusion of club volleyball players. The roster of that 26-7 squad included Kabbes’ 6-2 sister, Emily, a junior who also later played at ISU. In 2001, Emily Kabbes averaged 3.6 kills and 1.4 blocks for a 28-6 squad that earned the first regional title in program history. The Saints’ 35-4 team of 2002 also upped the school record for wins and captured the first sectional crown in school history. Central made its state tournament debut in 2003, placing third in Class A at 35-5. Leading that squad was 5-7 leaper Megan Naborowski, who topped 300 kills that season and later played at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She had been a freshman Rolph’s first year. “He believed in us and we believed in ourselves that we could do this and make it here,” said Naborowski after beating Eastland in the third-place match. Rolph’s tenure ended after the 2004 season with his five-year record at 142-41. In 2006, Emily Kabbes became coach and five years later had a 30-10 Class 2A state third-place squad. That 2010 team looked nervous while losing to Breese Central in the semifinals, but turned things around for a 25-13, 25-20 win over Decatur St. Teresa in the third-place match. “Today we were much more calm, prepared, and ready to execute,” said Kabbes, whose married name became Kauten. Her 2010 roster featured three future Division I players in Caroline Holt (Loyola and Notre Dame), Meredith Boe (Saint Louis), and Danielle Davis (Illinois). In 2012, JR Banister became coach and four years later his Saints won the 2A title, finishing 35-5 after topping Orion (40-1) in the final, 25-20, 25-21. “When the girls go out there with the mentality that we can do it, this group is pretty much unstoppable,” Banister said. Those 2015 champions were led by Kate Hoerdemann, a 6-1 outside hitter who had 300 kills and later played at Memphis and Nicholls State. In 2016, Central was bumped up to Class 3A, but returnees such as Hoerdemann and Maddie Holt, who went on to play at Wake Forest, helped the Saints go 31-7 to place fourth in the state. Also on that team was Western Illinois-bound Erika Moore.


#45
NEWARK HIGH SCHOOL | NEWARK
Regional Titles: 15
Sectional Titles: 5
State Final Trophies: 3
State Championship Appearances/Titles: 2/2
2018-1A: Newark 2, Hartsburg-Emden 0     (40-2)
2019-1A: Newark 2, Illini Bluffs 0                   (41-2)
State Final Coaches: Tonya Grayson (2017, 2018, 2019)
First Team All-State Players: 2018 – Madi Malone; 2019 – Madi Malone; 2021* – Madi Malone.


Newark: In the early years of the IHSA State Series, the Newark High School volleyball program sat mostly dormant. The program won its first regional in 1984, but the second wouldn’t come until nearly two decades later in 2002. Tonya Grayson, a 1990 Newark graduate, became coach in 2001 and began an era of consistent success for the Lady Norsemen, who won two state titles, 12 regionals, and five sectionals during her 20-year tenure. She posted a 555-169 overall record while going 163-8 in the Little Ten Conference. She was inducted into the Illinois Volleyball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2022. The 2017 season was a turning point as Newark made its first state tourney appearance with a roster that featured no senior starters and a budding freshman star in Madi Malone, a 6-foot outside hitter. That 34-5 season saw the Lady Norsemen finish fourth in Class 1A. Newark returned the next year to become the first girls team in school history to win a state championship in any sport. In the 1A final, the Lady Norsemen downed Hartsburg-Emden, 25-16, 25-23, as Malone provided 11 kills. “These girls went on and took this match like nobody’s business,” Grayson told the media. “Talk about stepping up on a big stage, in the biggest moment, calm, cool, and collected.” That 40-2 team, which lost just nine sets all season, went unbeaten against 1A opposition with help from setter Olivia Nelson, who had more than 900 assists. In 2019, the Lady Norsemen were even better, losing just eight sets while finishing 41-2, their only losses coming against 2A teams. In the 1A final against Illini Bluffs, Newark got 10 kills from Malone in a 25-19, 25-22 victory to become one of just 24 programs in state history to win more than one title. Malone’s setter that year was Taylor Christian, who finished with more than 900 assists. Malone’s bid to lead Newark to three straight Final Fours ended her senior season due to COVID-19. During the pandemic-shortened spring campaign of 2021, Malone averaged 6.6 kills per set on .516 hitting. She has continued to shine at Wisconsin-Milwaukee where she has been a two-time all-Horizon League first-team pick. While a player like Malone, who finished with 1,635 kills (11th in state history), is irreplaceable, the program continues to excel, having won three regionals and a sectional since her graduation, including two under Coach P.J. McKinney, who followed Grayson in 2022.
     (*) – denotes pandemic-shortened spring season.


#44
EUREKA HIGH SCHOOL | EUREKA
Regional Titles: 12
Sectional Titles: 6
State Final Trophies: 3
State Championship Appearances/Titles: 1/1
2016-2A: Eureka 2, St. Joseph-Ogden 0         (35-4)
State Final Coach: Kris Hasty (1984, 1985, 1986), Tracy Heffren (2016)
First Team All-State Players: 2018 – Hailey Flowers.

Eureka: Of Eureka’s 12 regional titles, six came in the 1980s and four in the 2010s. Those two golden eras came during the reigns of two savvy coaches, one of whom – Tracy (Young) Heffren – played for the other – Kris Hasty. Heffren suited up for Hasty’s 34-2 Class A state fourth-place team in 1984 as well as her 34-7 third-place squad in 1985. In 2009, Heffren became coach and eight years later oversaw a 35-4 campaign that produced a Class 2A state title. That 2016 squad was led by 6-footer Lauren Rokey, who averaged 4.6 kills and 3.0 digs per game before going on to play at Morehead State University. Rokey set Eureka records for career kills (1,289) and digs (944) as the Hornets went 88-49 with her in the lineup. In the 2016 final in which the Hornets scored a 25-16, 26-24 win over St. Joseph-Ogden, Rokey had 10 kills while hitting .435. In the second set, Eureka trailed 24-20, but scored six straight points to win. “We set a goal at the beginning of the season to get down here and win,” Heffren told the media. “All of those goals have been achieved by this amazing group of girls.” Among the contributors was Heffren’s daughter, Courtney, who had six kills in the final, and 6-0 sophomore Hailey Flowers, who would go on to play at Radford and Missouri-St. Louis. As a senior in 2018, Flowers had 416 kills for a 34-4 Elite Eight squad. Tracy Heffren stepped down as coach after the 2018 season – having gone 217-120 over 10 years – to become coach at her alma mater, Illinois Central College. Hasty stepped down as Eureka’s coach after the 1988 season to coach at Elmhurst College. Her 1984 team lost the third-place match to Breese Mater Dei, 15-11, 7-15, 15-10, 15-10, during the lone season IHSA matches were best three-out-of-five-game affairs. “We accomplished our goal by making the final four,” Hasty said. “We just didn’t seem to click today, but the kids enjoyed themselves and that’s what it’s all about.” In the 1985 third-place match, Eureka topped Carthage Hancock Central, 17-15, 13-15, 15-7. “I think we were a little flat today,” noted Hasty, “but we won and that is something to say for the girls. We just weren’t as aggressive as we usually are.” Representing Eureka on the all-tournament team were 6-2 sophomore Tammy Siverly and one Tracy (Young) Heffren. Siverly went on to play for Illinois State University as did Heffren after her stint at ICC. The Hornets returned to the Elite Eight in 1986 with help from Siverly and 6-0 senior Peg Wettstein. “Balance has been the key for us,” Hasty said. “We look impressive in the middle with our two 6-foot-plus hitters, but they all have other, not so obvious, talent.”


#43
NAPERVILLE CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL | NAPERVILLE
Regional Titles: 15
District Titles: 4
Sectional Titles: 6
State Final Trophies: 3
State Championship Appearances/Titles: 3/2
1998-AA: Sandburg 2, Naperville Central 1                (41-1)
2005-AA: Naperville Central 2, Prairie Ridge 0           (39-4)
2007-4A: Naperville Central 2, McAuley 0                  (38-4)
State Final Coaches: John Garrison (1991, 1998), Brie Isaacson (2005, 2007)
First Team All-State Players: 1993 – Jenna Wrobel; 1994 – Jenna Wrobel; 1997 – Elizabeth Gower; 1998 – Elizabeth Gower; 2001 – Cayley Thurlby; 2002 – Meg Eckert; 2004 – Tara Hester; 2005 – Tara Hester, Jessica Yanz; 2006 – Lindsey Mango*; 2008 – Emily McGee.

Naperville Central: Naperville Central has won district or regional titles in every decade from the 1970s to the 2010s, but the twin peaks of its volleyball glory came during the state championship campaigns of 2005 and 2007.  Another season of note was 1998 when the John Garrison-coached Redhawks won their first 41 matches before dropping a three-setter to Sandburg in the Class AA final. Naperville Central’s leader that year was Colorado-recruit Elizabeth Gower, a 6-foot-1 setter/hitter who was the Chicago Sun-Times Player of the Year. Brie Isaacson, a 2022 Hall-of-Fame honoree, became coach in 2003 and two years later guided Naperville Central to a 39-4 record and the Class AA state crown. The stars of that 2005 team, which downed previously unbeaten Crystal Lake Prairie Ridge in the final, 25-18, 27-25, were 6-1 setter Jessica Yanz, 6-0 outside hitter Tara Hester, and 5-4 libero Lindsey Mango. “(That) was the best we ever played,” Yanz told the media. “The passes were all there, the digs were all up … and the hitters were all on.”  Yanz was later named the 2005 Illinois Gatorade Player of the Year and went on to play two seasons at Penn State before transferring to Nebraska. Hester was named the Champaign News-Gazette Player of the Year in 2005 and later played at Virginia. In 2006, Mango, a Louisville recruit, became the first defensive player to be named the Chicago Sun-Times Player of the Year. Naperville Central’s 2007 Class 4A state title team was led by 5-11 Emily McGee, a North Carolina recruit, a 5-11 Rebecca Heath, who went on to play at American University. “It’s definitely a tough combination because when one goes to the back row, the next one comes up,” said Isaacson, whose setter was Elon-recruit Megan McMahon.  That 2007 team lost twice to Downers Grove North and twice to Wheaton Warrenville South before capping a 23-match winning streak with a 25-23, 25-22 win over Chicago Mother McAuley in the title match. In 2002, North Carolina-recruit Meg Eckert had a school-record 463 kills to push her career total to 1,217. In 2001, 5-11 setter Cayley Thurlby, a Hawaii recruit, had 903 assists for a 34-4-1 team. She later played professionally in Spain and Argentina before playing pro beach volleyball.
(*) – denotes a Champaign News-Gazette second-team all-stater.

 

#42
ST. THOMAS MORE HIGH SCHOOL | CHAMPAIGN
Regional Titles: 12
Sectional Titles: 5
State Final Trophies: 3
State Championship Appearances/Titles: 2/2
2017-2A: St. Thomas More 2, Quincy Notre Dame 1             (39-3)
2021-1A: St. Thomas More 2, Southeastern 1                        (41-1)
State Final Coaches: Stan Bergman (2017, 2018), Kelly McClure (2021)
First Team All-State Players: 2014 – Lexi Wallen; 2017 – Mica Allison; 2019 – Allie Trame; 2021* - Caroline Kerr; 2021 –Caroline Kerr.
(*) – denotes pandemic-shortened spring season

St. Thomas More: The High School of St. Thomas More opened in Champaign in 2000 with 73 students consisting of 21 sophomores and 52 freshmen. The Sabers entered a volleyball regional for the first time in 2002 and in 2008 won the first of five consecutive regionals. An era of excellence arrived in 2015 when Stan Bergman became coach. In 2017, he guided the Sabers to not only their first sectional crown, but their first state title. St. Thomas More, which had grown to 295 students by then, won the Class 2A final over Quincy Notre Dame in a three-set thriller featuring 17 ties and seven lead changes. The final point of an 18-25, 25-19, 25-22 victory came on a tip by Brianna Hopper. Then came jubilation. “Everything froze in my mind,” remembered setter Mica Allison, who had 12 kills, 12 assists, five digs, and two blocks. “It’s still frozen, how that play played out and how it happened. It was just a wonderful moment to share with (my teammates). You’ve just got those warm fuzzies and that feeling of accomplishment under your belt.” Allison was later named the 2017-18 Illinois Gatorade Player of the Year. Over her final three seasons, she notched 914 kills, 1,044 assists, 144 aces, and 520 digs. She went on to play one season at Auburn before transferring to Illinois and then playing beach volleyball at Florida Atlantic. In 2018, the Sabers returned to the 2A Final Four where they dropped a three-set heartbreaker to Pleasant Plains in the semifinals and wound up third at 37-5. Bergman wound up coaching at Mahomet-Seymour the next season and has since reached 723 career coaching victories entering the 2024 season to rank 27th in IHSA history. Kelly McClure assumed the St. Thomas More coaching reins in 2019 as 6-foot-2 Allie Trame provided 280 kills for a 35-3 regional championship team. Trame later played at Alabama and Illinois State University. McClure had the Sabers in the Class 1A Final Four by 2021, the year they went 37-5 and captured their second state crown. In the final against Augusta Southeastern, St. Thomas More came from behind to win in three sets as it had in the semifinals against Aquin. “This team was a joy to coach,” McClure said. “They love this sport and each other deeply.” Leading those 2021 Sabers was 5-11 senior setter Caroline Kerr, who now plays at Tennessee. She finished her prep career with 2,967 assists, the eighth most in state history. In 2014, 6-0 Lexi Wallen finished with a school-record 1,466 career kills before going on to play volleyball and basketball at ISU.


#41
EDWARDS COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL | ALBION
Regional Titles: 31

District Titles: 1
Sectional Titles: 14
State Final Trophies: 4
State Championship Appearances/Titles: 1/0
2013-2A: IC Catholic 2, Albion 0            (41-1)

State Final Coaches: Linda Oxby (1999, 2006, 2007, 2012, 2013), Kacey Nelson (2014)

First Team All-State Players: none.

Edwards County: It’s easy to understand why the Edwards County school board, in 2012, renamed the high school gym, Linda Oxby Gymnasium. At that point in her esteemed volleyball coaching career, Oxby had earned the only state trophy in any sport in school history thanks to her third-place Class 1A squad of 2007 that went 35-6. Diagnosed with cancer in 2011, Oxby went on to have teams place fourth in 2A in 2012 (35-7) and second in 2A in 2013 (41-1). Sadly, after stepping down as coach following the 2013 season, Oxby lost her battle with cancer in 2017 at age 60. Despite never having played volleyball, Oxby began her coaching career in 1979 at Coal City where she went 90-39 over five seasons and saw her 24-5 team of 1982 reach the Class A Elite Eight and her 29-5 team of 1983 place third. Next came 19 years at Edwards County where she went 543-141 for an overall record of 633-180 over 24 years. Oxby’s time in Albion included Class A state trips in 1999 (31-9) and 2006 (31-9), as well as 19 regional crowns. “She didn’t ever have aspirations to be a legendary coach like she’s thought of today, but she believed in hard work, she believed in respect, and she believed in people being good people and when you have those three things, you have a good program,” said Nixie Hnetkovsky, one of Oxby’s assistant coaches and former players who later became head coach. Oxby’s 2013 state runner-up squad – so dominant it only played three sets three times – suffered its one loss in the state championship match against IC Catholic, 25-15, 25-19. Leading the Lady Lions that year was 6-footer Whitney Beck, who finished her career with 1,381 kills before playing at Butler. Beck was among five returning starters from a 35-7 squad that had placed fourth in the 2012 state tourney. “Whitney is an all-around player and a good leader for the team,” said Oxby, who had other potent hitters including Kaeli James. “A lot of teams rely on one or two players to get them through matches. With us, you never know which of our girls is going to be on that night.” Five members of the 2013 team returned in 2014 for first-year coach Kacey Nelson, who directed them to a 35-6 record and fourth place in 2A. That was the last time the Lady Lions left Linda Oxby Gymnasium and advanced past the sectional.


#40
CHICAGO CHRISTIAN HIGH SCHOOL | PALOS HEIGHTS
Regional Titles: 18
Sectional Titles: 11
State Final Trophies: 5
State Championship Appearances/Titles: 3/1
2009-2A: Freeburg 2, Chicago Christian 1                             28-11
2010-2A: Chicago Christian 2, Breese Central 1                   30-11
2011-2A: Quincy Notre Dame 2, Chicago Christian 1          23-19
State Final Coaches: Leah Bruskewitz (2007), James Garcia (2009, 2010, 2011), Karen Van Assen (2019)
First Team All-State Players: 2010 – Madison Kamp; 2011 – Becky DeRuiter; 2021 – Logan Grevengoed; 2022 – Delanie Grevengoed.

Chicago Christian: When the state series went from two classes to four in 2007, the volleyball fortunes of Chicago Christian soared. The surge began with a fourth-place Class 2A state finish in 2007 when Coach Leah Bruskewitz’ team finished 35-5. Two years later, Coach James Garcia’s 28-11 squad took second in 2A, losing in the final to Freeburg, 25-19, 24-26, 25-17. “It didn’t end the way we wanted it to, obviously, but I have to give credit to our girls,” Garcia told the media. “We knew we were in for a battle, and we weren’t going to give up.” In 2010, the Knights climbed to the top of 2A, downing Breese Central, 21-25, 25-14, 25-22, to finish 30-11 as Emily Lindemulder set a still-standing 2A title match record with six blocks. The third set featured 16 ties and nine lead changes. “I don’t think you can ask for a better third game,” said Garcia, whose team got 26 assists from 6-foot-2 setter Madison Kamp. A four-year starter, Kamp helped the Knights go 123-32 before going on to play at Bradley. After the 2010 final, Kamp said, “To lose last year and come back and win this year is the greatest feeling.” Chicago Christian returned to the 2A final in 2011, but fell to Quincy Notre Dame, 21-25, 26-24, 25-21. In game two, the Knights enjoyed a 24-22 lead only to watch Notre Dame make a 4-0 run. That season saw setter Emily Workman hand out 1,025 assists, the 19th most in state history. Her top hitters included 6-1 Becky DeRuiter, an Olivet Nazarene recruit who had 268 kills. The Knights’ modest 23-19 record in 2011 reflected a schedule featuring traditional powers such as Chicago Mother McAuley, Wheaton St. Francis, LaGrange Lyons, Lockport, and Downers Grove South. “It’s tough playing those huge schools and not always winning,” senior libero Celaine Haan told the Chicago Tribune. “But when we play them tough, it prepares us for the state tournament.” Chicago Christian’s most recent state trip in 2021 saw it finish third in 2A at 35-7 for Coach Karen Van Assen. Leading the way was 6-3 Western Kentucky recruit Logan Grevengoed, who provided 458 kills, 203 digs, and 82 blocks. Among Grevengoed’s teammates was her 6-2 sister, Delanie, who had 525 kills in 2022 and now plays for Appalachian State.

#39
LUTHERAN HIGH SCHOOL | SPRINGFIELD
Regional Titles: 19
Sectional Titles: 8
State Final Trophies: 4
State Championship Appearances/Titles: 1/0
2022-1A: Freeport Aquin 2, Lutheran 0          38-4
State Final Coaches: Drew Aschenbrenner (2002, 2004), Katie McCulley (2010, 2011, 2021, 2022)
First Team All-State Players: 2022 – Makenna Cox.

Springfield Lutheran: Founded in 1978, Springfield Lutheran won its first volleyball regional in 1994 with a 27-3 record. Since 1994, the Crusaders have only had three losing seasons while winning 18 more regionals. Lutheran’s 2010 regional crown came during a 33-8 campaign that saw the Crusaders finish third in Class 1A under Coach Katie McCulley. Her 2011 squad also took third at 37-4. Leading the 2010 and 2011 teams was 6-foot-2 Abby Heise, who totaled nearly 1,300 career kills, 1,300 assists, 550 digs, and 300 blocks before going on to play at Truman State University. Lutheran’s state semifinal roadblock in 2010 was Scales Mound, which lost the first game, 25-16, and trailed in the second, 17-6, but rallied to win in three sets. “I think we got away from playing the hard defense and being scrappy like we were being all game,” McCulley told the media. In the 2011 state semis, Lutheran couldn’t overcome miscues nor Mount Pulaski. “I don’t know if they got us out of system or we got ourselves out of system,” lamented McCulley. “I don’t think you saw the team that we’ve been all season.” In 2021, McCulley’s crew returned to the Final Four, placing fourth in Class 1A at 32-7. That showing set up Lutheran’s best finish as its entire roster returned in 2022 to take second in 1A at 38-4, setting a school record for wins in a season with the best state placing by Lutheran in any sport. “We’ve made history” said McCulley after the final. “Being their coach, being their AD, I’m ecstatic for our program and the girls that are a part of it.” In the final, the Crusaders lost to Freeport Aquin, 25-20, 25-15, despite 12 kills from 6-0 Makenna Cox, the coach’s niece who went on to play at Division II Missouri Western State. Cox’s 607 kills in 2022 rank ninth in state history. Among Lutheran’s challenges in 2022 was losing its home court over the summer to mine subsidence that caused walls to crack and floors to sink. A 2000 Lutheran graduate, McCulley amassed over 1,000 career kills in high school before starring at Lewis University. She took a 444-176 record over 17 years into the 2024 season. Lutheran’s first of six state tournament appearances came in 2002 when Coach Drew Aschenbrenner’s 35-5 team reached the Class A quarterfinals. Two years later, Lutheran returned to the Elite Eight, finishing 34-6. A member of both squads was 5-10 Jenny Gilman, who had 412 kills in 2004 before going on to play at SIU-Edwardsville. Aschenbrenner’s 10-year tenure as coach ended in 2004 with his record at 252-76.


#38
TRI-COUNTY COOP (KANSAS HS-KANSAS | OAKLAND HS-OAKLAND | SHILOH HS-HUME)
Regional Titles: 20
Sectional Titles: 9
State Final Trophies: 5
State Championship Appearances/Titles: 2/0
1997-A: Wheaton St. Francis 2, Kansas 0            35-5

1998-A: Quincy Notre Dame 2, Kansas 1            35-7

State Final Coaches: Brenda McCarty (1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998), Drew Robertson (2012)

First Team All-State Players: none.


Tri-County: Volleyball rewards teamwork and togetherness, which partially explains how tiny schools such as Kansas, which has an enrollment of 53, can turn a diminutive talent pool into a giant-killing tidal wave. Molding a team so its whole is greater than the sum of its parts requires a coach who can dream big. The Lady Bulldogs had that in Brenda McCarty, who built five state-qualifying squads in an eight-year span in the 1990s. Two of those teams, the 1997 and 1998 squads, became Class A state runners-up while the 1993 and 1992 teams finished third and fourth, respectively. The demanding McCarty only had nine players in 1997 and 11 in 1998. “I told them game day is our day off,” McCarty said. “I think that’s a Bob Knight saying.” In 1997, Kansas had an official enrollment of 85 (based on Sept. 30 figures), but when it lost to Wheaton St. Francis, 15-7, 15-4, in the mid-November state final, enrollment stood at 72. Whatever the number, no school so small had gone so far in volleyball since 1986 when Easton (enrollment 62) placed second. When it was suggested to McCarty that her 1997 team faced a seemingly impossible task in trying to upset St. Francis (enrollment 531), she said, “I don’t think you can tell these kids anything is impossible.” Among the kids making Kansas click in 1997 and 1998 was 5-foot-8 hitter Julie Washburn, who had transferred from Martinsville as a junior. Part of a graduating class of 12, Washburn later played at Illinois State University. In 1998, Kansas had 70 students when it lost in the state final to Quincy Notre Dame (enrollment 522), 2-15, 15-7, 15-13, despite 12 kills by Washburn. “It was a roller-coaster ride,” McCarty told the media. “It depended who was in the front row which roller-coaster we were riding.” When setter Gretchen (Bennett) Gough looked back 10 years later, she said, “We weren’t thinking we were this little bitty town. We were just like one of those big schools up there.” In 2003, McCarty resigned as coach, but continued teaching at Kansas. Her teams had won 10 regionals in 12 years after not winning any prior to her arrival. She had gone 346-94 at the high school level and coached two junior high state champions and five runners-up. In 2004, Kansas joined Oakland in creating a sports co-op that Hume Shiloh later joined. The co-op was called Tri-County and their nickname became the Lady Titans. In 2012, the Tri-County co-op – with a combined enrollment of 159 – went 36-3 and placed third in Class 1A under Coach Drew Robertson.


#37
MENDOTA HIGH SCHOOL | MENDOTA
Regional Titles: 20
District Titles: 6
Sectional Titles: 13
State Final Trophies: 8
State Championship Appearances/Titles: 2/0
1981-A: Elmhurst IC 2, Mendota 0                          27-2
1992-A: Wheaton St. Francis 2, Mendota 0           37-5
State Final Coaches: Renee Guenther (1975, 1976, 1980, 1981, 1982), Mary Stephenitch (1987, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993)
First Team All-State Players: none.

Mendota: A frequent qualifier in the early years of the state tournament, Mendota became long on accomplishments (with 11 Elite Eight berths), but short on titles (zero). The Lady Trojans made four state trips between 1975 and 1981. Mendota’s 27-2 squad of 1981 lost to Elmhurst Immaculate Conception in the Class A final, 15-12, 15-11. Leading coach Renee Guenther’s team was 5-foot-9 hitter Tracy Stroyan, a unanimous all-tournament team selection who went on to play at Illinois State University. “I’d give anything to have all Tracy Stroyans on my team,” said Guenther, who advanced four other teams to the state tourney including the 30-7 fourth-place squad of 1982. Guenther’s 19-2 state third-placer of 1975 suffered its only losses to LaSalle-Peru and Barrington. “We’re basically an offensive team,” she said. “Spiking and keeping the ball moving are the keys to our game. We use a 4-2 offense and we work well as a team. We like to do a lot of spiking with that four-girl front and that’s what wins it for us.” Another Mendota mentor taking five teams to state was Mary Stephenitch, whose most accomplished squad was the 37-5 Class A state runner-up crew of 1992. Those Lady Trojans lost to Wheaton St. Francis in the final, 17-15, 15-12. “They were able to do things at crunch time and we weren’t,” said Stephenitch, whose team got five kills from Beth Davis and four from 6-1 Jackee Doran in the final. “We weren’t quick enough to take care of their tips and dinks. They were able to capitalize on our mistakes.” Stephenitch also coached Mendota’s 33-4 third-place team of 1987, its 28-13 fourth-place squad of 1990, and its 32-11 fourth-place unit of 1993. Among the Lady Trojans’ biggest feats in 1987 was notching 33 blocks, the third most in state history, against eventual state runner-up Riverton. In the 1987 third-place match, the Lady Trojans dispatched Normal University High, 9-15, 15-8, 15-6. “We were too tentative at first,” Stephenitch told the media. “We finally got things together and started playing offense in the second game.”  The last of Mendota 20 regional titles came in 2011.


#36
OAK PARK-RIVER FOREST HIGH SCHOOL | OAK PARK
Regional Titles: 22
District Titles: 6
Sectional Titles: 6
State Final Trophies: 4
State Championship Appearances/Titles: 4/2
1978-AA: OPRF 2, Rolling Meadows 0                   32-0
1979-AA: OPRF 2, Oak Forest 0                              31-2
1980-AA: McAuley 2, OPRF 1                                  27-6
1987-AA: McAuley 2, OPRF 0                                  35-3
State Final Coaches: Shirley Redmond (1978, 1979, 1980, 1987)
First Team All-State Players: 1983 – Ellen Mullarkey; 1985 – Taryn Collins; 2023 – Grace Nelson.

OPRF: The sophistication with which volleyball was played accelerated in 1978 when Oak Park-River Forest defeated Rolling Meadows in the Class AA championship match, 20-10, 20-2. “It’s not just bump, set, and spike anymore,” proclaimed Shirley Redmond, who coached the victors through a 32-0 season, one of just 11 unbeatens in state history. The Huskies were extended to three games just twice all season. The 1978 state tourney in Normal was a homecoming for Redmond, a former Illinois State University player, who introduced a new system of play. “She knows the plays, and she made us run them,” said 5-foot-11 hitter Eileen Ryan, who joined fellow hitter Dawn Rieg in turning assists from setter Patty Walsh into kills. “We play more as a team now,” noted Walsh after her school’s state tourney debut. In 1979, Reig and Kelly Waldron were the only returning starters for a squad that defended its Class AA title while finishing 31-2, both losses coming against Chicago Mother McAuley. “I can’t tell you how much we practice defense,” noted Redmond after beating Oak Forest in the final, 20-10, 20-18. “And I can’t tell you how good it feels to know that the things we’ve worked on came out when we needed them.” Redmond brought teams back to the state tournament in 1980 and 1987, placing second both times. The Huskies’ 1980 bid for a third consecutive title was denied in the final, 14-16, 15-2, 15-8, by McAuley, which finished 36-0 to Oak Park-River Forest’s 27-6. “You have to take the good with the bad,” Redmond told the media. “My girls gave all they could.” In the 1987 final, the Huskies, ranked No. 1 by the Chicago Tribune, fell to No. 2 McAuley, 15-2, 15-12, to finish at 35-3. McAuley had previously handed the Huskies their only loss to an in-state opponent. Since 1987, Oak Park-River Forest has not returned to the state tournament but has won 16 regionals and one sectional.


#35
PLEASANT PLAINS HIGH SCHOOL | PLEASANT PLAINS
Regional Titles: 19

District Titles: 3
Sectional Titles: 4
State Final Trophies: 2
State Championship Appearances/Titles: 2/1
2018-2A: Pleasant Plains 2, Galena 0                          34-6

2021-2A: Montini 2, Pleasant Plains 0                        34-6

State Final Coaches: Denise Dufour (2018, 2021)

First Team All-State Players: none


Pleasant Plains: When it comes to consistency, Pleasant Plains has been a champ, winning at least three districts or regionals every decade since the 1970s. The 2010s were a productive outlier with six regional titles, one of which led the Lady Cardinals to their first Final Four appearance and the 2018 Class 2A state championship. That 34-6 squad, coached by Denise Dufour, topped Galena in the final, 25-18, 25-20, to become the first girls team state champion in Pleasant Plains history. Leading the Lady Cardinals was 5-foot-10 McKenzie Smith, who topped 300 kills. Setters Chloe Burt and Emily Long both added more than 400 assists while MacKenzie Houser supplied more than 400 digs. A strong junior high program has helped Pleasant Plains develop high school talent as Dufour has coached six Illinois Elementary School Association seventh grade state championship teams since 2012. “I try to really instill a fundamental background with the girls and just really focus on their technique when they are young …,” Dufuor told Channel1450.com in 2018. Dufour returned the Lady Cardinals to the state tournament in 2021, finishing 34-6 after a 25-16, 25-17 loss to Lombard Montini in the 2A final. The Lady Cardinals took solace in holding Montini, a 40-1 juggernaut, to .227 hitting. “Our block was a strong presence,” Dufour said. “We had a commitment to their better hitters. A lot of times the balls we got hands on, the blocks would go down in other matches, but not this one.” Pleasant Plains’ leaders in 2021 included 5-10 Peyton Bergschneider and 6-1 Lewis-recruit Lauren Buxton, who both delivered more than 300 kills, while setter Hannah Smith topped 800 assists and Kylee Garrett exceeded 300 digs when not serving a school-record 62 aces. Since their last state final, the Lady Cardinals have extended their string of sectional titles to four, going 35-5 in 2022 and 30-10 in 2023. Prior to Dufour becoming coach in 2017, Pleasant Plains won 14 regionals under Hall-of-Fame coach Cheryl Ballinger, who went 735-345 during her 1983-2016 tenure. Ballinger, who also coached at Saunemin, ranks 23rd in state history with 763 career wins.


#34
DAKOTA HIGH SCHOOL| DAKOTA
Regional Titles: 16
District Titles: 2
Sectional Titles: 5
State Final Trophies: 3
State Championship Appearances/Titles: 3/1
2011-1A: Dakota 2, Mt. Pulaski 0                                 41-1
2012-2A: Deer Creek-Mackinaw 2, Dakota 0             37-5
2014-2A: Deer Creek-Mackinaw 2, Dakota 1             37-5
State Final Coach: JoAnne Spensley (1998), Shannon Williams (2011, 2012, 2014)
First Team All-State Players: 2021* – Tabytha Toelke.
(*) – denotes the pandemic-shortened spring season.

Dakota: Dakota’s first state trip came in 1998 when Coach JoAnne Spensley’s squad saw a 27-7 season end in the Class A quarterfinals against Kansas. Thirteen years later, the Lady Indians made a splash in their state tourney return, winning Class 1A for Coach Shannon Williams by going 41-1. Their lone loss came against Class 3A Sterling. In the 2011 final, Dakota topped Mount Pulaski, 25-16, 25-20, with help from 5-foot-10 sophomore Sarah Thompson’s 13 kills. “I like to cut it line, but they weren’t giving me much and if they did, I just didn’t see it, so I was just trying to use the block or get a kill,” said Thompson, who hit .423 while setter Aleesha Cleaver supplied 17 assists. “She controls everything out there,” Williams said of Cleaver. “If she wasn’t out there, they would have a hard time functioning. She’s a true leader.” In 2012, Dakota, with five returning players, moved up to Class 2A and returned to the state finals where it lost to a 38-1 Deer Creek-Mackinaw team, 25-23, 25-21, despite Thompson’s 2A title match record 16 kills and Cleaver’s 20 assists to finish 37-5. Afterward, Williams felt her team fell short in making on-court adjustments. “They’re looking to us (coaches) and they need to figure things out for themselves sometimes,” she said. “We just need to gain that mental part of the game.” Nevertheless, Dee-Mack coach Michael Bolhuis ranked Dakota among the best foes his team had faced. “They did a really good job of exploiting our weaknesses and using their strengths to their advantage,” he said. In a rematch with Deer Creek-Mackinaw in the 2014 2A final, the Lady Indians (37-5) again fell, 10-25, 25-22, 25-23, as Cleaver’s sister, Jaycee, provided 15 kills, 15 assists, and 11 digs. Dakota’s 17 hitting errors, however, were too many to overcome. “You can’t do that in a state championship game,” Williams said. “They’re a really good team but we’ve got to keep the ball in play. You’re never going to beat a good team making that many errors.” The star of Dakota’s COVID-shortened spring season of 2021 was 6-0 Tabytha Toelke, who later played at Memphis. Her resume included 562 kills in 2019, the 17th most in state history, and 1,561 career kills, the 16th most in state annals.


#33
CARL SANDBURG HIGH SCHOOL | ORLAND PARK
Regional Titles: 32
District Titles: 3
Sectional Titles: 7
State Final Trophies: 4
State Championship Appearances/Titles: 3/1
1981-AA: McAuley 2, Sandburg 0                         32-7
1998-AA: Sandburg 2, Naperville Central 1        38-5
2001-AA: St. Charles East 2, Sandburg 0             37-6
State Final Coaches: Joanne Mutsch (1980, 1981), Joann Holverson (1998, 2001), Kelly Mendoza (2004)
First Team All-State Players: 1986 – Jennifer Fisler; 1988 – Elaine Caraher; 1989 – Kim Nelson; 1990 – Janine Zumerchik; 1998 – Stephanie Brandys, Katie Engel; 1999 – Erika Lange; 2001 – Kathy Sulkowski; 2002 – Colleen Byrne, Sarah Kwasigroch; 2003 – Sarah Kwasigroch; 2004 – Sarah Kwasigroch; 2006 – Lauren Billo; 2007 – Alex Blatt; 2009 – MaryKate Imrie; 2012 – Dakota Hampton; 2013 – Sami Knight; 2014 – Sami Knight; 2019 – Rachel Krasowski; 2023 – Reilly Chausse.

Sandburg: Only three programs have won more regional/district titles than Sandburg’s 35 (32 regionals, 3 districts). When it comes to sectional crowns, however, the Eagles’ seven have been exceeded by 47 others. Sandburg’s highest climb came in 1998 when it won its lone Class AA state title, finishing 38-5 after a 15-10, 14-16, 15-12 decision over Naperville Central. “My defense kept the ball in play and they were able to get the ball to the setter,” Coach Joann Holverson told the media. “They were also able to block the middle. All of these girls are very good athletes and unselfish players. They are hard to stop.” Those 1998 Eagles were led by 6-foot DePaul-recruit Katie Engel, 6-2 Northwestern-bound Erika Lange, and top-spin-serving Stephanie Brandys. The title team also featured junior starter Sarah Kustok, a future DePaul University women's basketball player whose trailblazing broadcast career would see her become the first female to serve as a TV analyst for an NBA team when the New Jersey Nets elevated her to the role in 2017. Three years later, Holverson’s squad was back in the AA final, but a 15-12, 15-12 loss to St. Charles East dropped its record to 37-6. “We knew because of their size they would be a strong offensive team and a strong blocking team,” Holverson noted. “We hoped to take advantage of some defensive weaknesses, but they passed great tonight.” A Hall of Famer who also coached boys volleyball, Holverson left Sandburg for Lincoln-Way Central in 2002 and retired from coaching girls in 2008 with a 20-year record of 424-293. Leading her 2001 squad was freshman setter Sarah Kwasigroch, who went on to log a state-record 3,659 career assists. Her 1,204 assists in 2001 remain the single-season state record. Among the beneficiaries of Kwasigroch sets was 5-9 Kathy Sulkowski, who had a school-record 459 kills. Kwasigroch went on to play at New Mexico. Another standout from that era was 6-0 Colleen Byrne, who finished with a school-record 980 career kills in 2002 when she was named the Chicago Sun-Times Player of the Year. Sandburg made its first state trip in 1980 when its 33-3 team finished third in Class AA under Coach Joanne Mutsch. In 1981, the Eagles ended a 32-7 season in the AA final where they lost to Chicago Mother McAuley, 15-9, 15-13, despite strong efforts by Julie Maginot and all-tourney selection Rita Schwartz. Among other Sandburg all-time greats were Rachel Krasowski, Sami Knight, Dakota Hampton, Alex Blatt, and MaryKate Imrie. In 2019, Krasowski finished with 2,166 career digs before going on to star at DePaul. Knight had 725 assists for a 32-5 team in 2014 and went on to play at SIU-Edwardsville. Hampton, a 6-1 South Florida recruit, had 350 kills for a 29-9 team in 2012. In 2008, the Minnesota-bound Blatt had 356 assists for a 30-9 Sweet 16 squad. In 2009, Imrie, an Illinois-Chicago recruit, finished with 1,200 career assists.


#32
DEER CREEK-MACKINAW HIGH SCHOOL | MACKINAW
Regional Titles: 19
District Titles: 1
Sectional Titles: 5
State Final Trophies: 4
State Championship Appearances/Titles: 2/2
2012-2A: Deer Creek-Mackinaw 2, Dakota 0           38-1
2014-2A: Deer Creek-Mackinaw 2, Dakota 1           36-3
State Final Coaches: Jennifer Mallicoat (2007), Michael Bolhuis (2012), Brandon Mueller (2013, 2014)
First Team All-State Players: 2014 – Lauren Anderson.

Dee-Mack: The volleyball program at Deer Creek-Mackinaw had to learn to walk before it could run but learn it did. First came nine district/regional titles before the Lady Chiefs broke through for their first sectional crown in 2007, the year they also earned their first state trophy, going 33-6 for fourth in Class 1A under first-year coach Jennifer Mallicoat. Her team leaders included 5-foot-10 hitter Haley Thurmond and 5-8 setter Kate Poorbaugh. “It was a fantastic season,” Mallicoat told the media. “This whole experience has been amazing. We had so many positives that coming to state and being able to be here was kind of icing on the cake.” Another first-year coach, Michael Bolhuis – still an Illinois State University student at the time – guided the Lady Chiefs to new heights in 2012 when they went 38-1 to win the Class 2A crown over Dakota, 25-23, 25-21. Dee-Mack fell behind, 7-2, in game two, but it had faced high-pressure situations in four previous matches that all went three sets. “They’re used to it and know what it takes to come back,” Bolhuis said. “If you chip away slowly, you are going to find yourself in the game at the end.” After that win, setter Cayley Meiners said of Bolhuis, “He came in and gave us a whole new attitude. He put us through a lot of conditioning and kicked our butts at the beginning of the season. This hard work has really paid off.” Dee-Mack’s lone loss in 2012 was to Downs Tri-Valley in the regular-season finale. Leading the Lady Chiefs to what would become three consecutive Final Four appearances was 5-10 sophomore Lauren Anderson, who could jump and touch 9 feet, 8 inches high and later played at Lipscomb. She finished with school records for career kills (1,294), digs (1,207), and aces (356). Her ace total ranks fourth in IHSA history. Dee-Mack’s bid to defend its state title in 2013 ended in the 2A semifinals with a 25-22, 25-17 loss to Elmhurst IC Catholic. The Lady Chiefs, again directed by a first-year coach in Brandon Mueller, finished third at 37-2. A key senior that season was Kyleigh Block, whose 142 aces rank ninth in state history. In 2014, Dee-Mack enjoyed coaching continuity when Mueller guided a 36-3 squad to again beat Dakota in the 2A final with help from Anderson’s 10 kills and 17 digs. “She can just do it all,” said Mueller, who saw foes serve at Anderson more than 400 times that year, but fewer than 10 became aces. “It’s probably the most important skill and she is really, really good at it.”     


#31
MARIST HIGH SCHOOL | CHICAGO
Regional Titles: 18
Sectional Titles: 5
State Final Trophies: 4
State Championship Appearances/Titles: 2/2
2017-4A: Marist 2, Minooka 1                                       41-1
2018-4A: Marist 2, Downers Grove North 0               39-3
State Final Coaches: Natalie Holder (2011), Jordan Vidovic (2017, 2018, 2019)
First Team All-State Players: 2005 – Abby Nelson; 2006 – Abby Nelson; 2010 – Caroline Niedospial; 2017 – Molly Murrihy, Savannah Thompson; 2018 – Camryn Hannah, Katie Mather; 2019 – Camryn Hannah; 2022 – Kamryn Chaney; 2023 – Bella Bullington.

Marist: Founded in 1963, Marist didn’t win its first volleyball regional until 2004. The first sectional title arrived in 2010 when Caroline Niedospial patrolled the back row for a 37-3 squad. She finished with a school-record 1,804 career digs before playing at Northwestern. Her prep exploits included a school-record 41 digs in a single match. A breakthrough came in 2011 when the RedHawks made their state tournament debut, going 35-8 for fourth in Class 4A. Coach Natalie Holder’s squad was led by juniors Mallory Salis, Ashley Holder, and Kelly Marcinek. The coach’s daughter, Ashley Holder, had 1,118 assists that season, a total that ranks third in state history. Salis and Marcinek both topped 300 kills in 2011. High hopes in 2012 were derailed by a regional final loss in three close sets to New Lenox Lincoln-Way Central. The best, however, was yet to come. When Jordan Vidovic became coach in 2016, the RedHawks went 30-9 and won a regional. In 2017, they went 41-1 and won a Class 4A crown. Leading that team was 6-foot-1 Molly Murrihy, whose 3,075 career assists rank fifth in state history. Her top hitters were Savannah Thompson, Maggie Meyer, and Camryn Hannah. After winning a three-setter over Minooka in the final, Murrihy said, “It’s an indescribable feeling. I seriously feel like I’m not even in real life right now. It feels like I’m in a dream.” Murrihy went on to star at Memphis and DePaul while Thompson played at Central Michigan. Prepvolleyball.com ranked Marist No. 2 in the nation in 2017 when its lone loss was to Chicago Mother McAuley. The RedHawks won their next 32 matches and opened 2018 with another 25 wins in a row for a 57-match winning streak that ties Cary-Grove for second longest in state history. In 2018, setter Katie Mather registered 980 assists for a 39-3 team that defended its 4A title. She went on to play at Loyola of Chicago. The 6-2 Hannah led the 2018 team in kills as well as the 39-3 third-place squad of 2019. Hannah went on to play three seasons at Clemson and in 2024 is on Penn State’s roster. Besides coaching the Marist girls to a state title in 2018, Vidovic also coached the Marist boys to a state crown on his way to Hall of Fame induction in 2021. In 2006, the 29-6 RedHawks received a school-record 849 kills from 6-3 Abby Nelson, who went on to play at the University of Illinois.


#30
CRYSTAL LAKE SOUTH HIGH SCHOOL | CRYSTAL LAKE
Regional Titles: 21

District Titles: 1
Sectional Titles: 9
State Final Trophies: 5
State Championship Appearances/Titles: 2/0
1991-AA: Belleville West 2, Crystal Lake South 0             41-2

1995-AA: McAuley 2, Crystal Lake South 1                        38-5

State Final Coaches: Pete Kottra (1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996), Jorie Fontana (2013)

First Team All-State Players: 1992 – Laura Kulans.


Crystal Lake South: The heyday of Crystal Lake South volleyball coincided with the coaching reign of Pete Kottra, who made five state trips during a six-year stretch in the 1990s. His highest placing teams were the state runner-up squads of 1991 (41-2) and 1995 (38-5). Kottra took over the program in 1984, going 11-12-1 before his 18-6 1985 squad began a string of 12 consecutive winning seasons that included a third-place state finish in 1992 (38-5), a fourth-place effort in 1993 (32-6-3), and an Elite Eight run (36-5) in 1996. He stepped down as coach after 13 years, having gone 379-90-1 while winning 11 regionals, six sectionals, and 10 Fox Valley Conference crowns. In the 1991 Class AA state final against Belleville West, Crystal Lake South’s hopes dimmed dramatically after 6-foot star Traci Tisch, a Tennessee-Martin recruit, injured an ankle at the end of game one. The resulting 15-6, 15-1 setback saw Belleville West set a record for fewest points allowed in a final. “They served really tough and if we can’t make a quick first pass, it’s hard to run our offense,” Kottra told the media. “We were never able to get our offense going because of their serves.” That 1991 team’s other Division I recruits were Kim Polash (Furman) and Tiffanie Dybert (Missouri). In the 1995 final against Chicago Mother McAuley, the Gators fell, 15-12, 9-15, 15-7, despite 13 kills from Monica King and nine from Jaime Johnson. “They’ve got a couple of hitters that are unstoppable,” Kottra said of the Mighty Macs. “I don’t think college teams could stop them. That’s the best McAuley team I’ve ever seen. They just don’t give you a thing.” Kottra’s 1992 third-place team was a statistical powerhouse, setting 21 team or individual records. The team records were for kills (940) and aces (336). Individually, Erin Beck and Laura Kulans set marks for assists (734) and kills (317), respectively. In 1994, the Gators returned 11 players from a fourth-place squad including setter Julie McGrath, an Iowa State recruit, and 5-10 hitter Jenny Nelson, but their 35-4-1 season ended against Schaumburg in the super-sectional. In 2008, Jorie Fontana took over as coach for a 32-8 sectional championship team. Her 2013 squad, led by junior Carly Nolan, went 37-5 while finishing fourth in Class 4A. Nolan later starred at Cincinnati. As a senior in 2008, 6-3 Erin Johnson finished with 447 career blocks to rank 14th in state history. She later played at the University of Illinois.

#29
HUNTLEY HIGH SCHOOL | HUNTLEY
Regional Titles: 29
Sectional Titles: 10
State Final Trophies: 5
State Championship Appearances/Titles: 2/0
1990-A: Princeton 2, Huntley 0                                   38-3

1995-A: Breese Mater Dei 2, Huntley 0                     34-8
State Final Coaches: James Tichy (1990), Larry Kahl (1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2001)
First Team All-State Players: 2003 – Sammi Mader; 2011 – Amy Dion; 2018 – Taylor Jakubowski; 2019 – Taylor Jakubowski*.

Huntley: The biggest things to happen in Huntley High School volleyball history occurred when its enrollment was small. Enrollment stood at 342 students when the Indians (their nickname became Red Raiders in 2002) made their last of five Class A Final Four appearances in 1997. When they reached the Class A quarterfinals in 1999 and 2001, enrollment stood at 429 and 616, respectively. By 2003, Huntley was in Class AA and still growing. When the four-class system arrived in 2007, the Red Raiders were in 3A, but in 2008 moved to 4A to stay. In 2023, enrollment stood at 2,996. When it was small, Huntley won four regionals in the 1980s before breaking through with a second-place state finish in 1990 under Coach James Tichy, whose 38-3-1 team lost the Class A final against Princeton, 15-12, 16-14. Huntley got 11 kills from Jami Greve and six from all-tournament selection Heather Kahl. “It plays on your mind when you get that close and don’t win,” Tichy told the media. “This game is such a momentum game that sometimes I can’t comprehend it.” In 1991, Heather Kahl’s father, Larry, took over as coach and won 12 consecutive regionals. The best state finish of his 15-year career – during which he went 432-150 – was a Class A runner-up showing in 1995. A 15-6, 15-7 loss to Breese Mater Dei in the final dropped Huntley’s record to 34-8. “We may have been intimidated by a two-time champion,” Larry Kahl said afterward. "We didn’t do too badly for a team that was supposed to be rebuilding.” The 1995 season was among four straight state-qualifying years for Kahl. His other state trophies were for third in 1996 (39-3), and fourth in 1994 (34-5) and 1997 (36-7). Sadly, Kahl died in 2015 at age 71 from cancer. Of note during the 1997 campaign was Becky Weber’s 202 aces, the still-standing single-season state record. Since Kahl’s final state trip, a 34-7 campaign in 2001, Huntley has won four regionals, but never gone further. In 2003, 6-1 Purdue-recruit Sammi Mader slammed a school-record 512 kills. The next star was Amy Dion, who finished with 1,825 career digs in 2011 before playing at Maryland. Between 2016 and 2019, Taylor Jakubowski made a name for herself by climbing to No. 2 in IHSA history with 3,556 career assists. She was named the Sports Performance VBC/Illprepvb.com Player of the Year in 2019 and went on to play at Seton Hall and Villanova.
(*) – denotes a Champaign News-Gazette special mention all-stater.


#28

CARY-GROVE HIGH SCHOOL | CARY
Regional Titles: 12

District Titles: 1
Sectional Titles: 5
State Final Trophies: 4
State Championship Appearances/Titles: 3/1
2009-4A: Cary-Grove 2, Lyons 0                   38-4

2010-4A: Lyons 2, Cary-Grove 1                   41-1

2011-4A: Benet 2, Cary-Grove 1                   37-5

State Final Coaches: Patty Langanis (2009, 2010, 2011, 2015)

First Team All-State Players: 2001 – Cassie McLaughlin; 2009 – Kelly Lamberti; 2010 – Kelly Lamberti, Colleen Smith; 2011 – Ashley Rosch.


Cary-Grove: After Cary-Grove won its only district volleyball title in 1978, 20 years passed before the Trojans won the first of 12 Class AA regionals. That 1998 team went 29-9 during Patty Langanis’ fourth season as coach. Over the ensuing decade, Cary-Grove topped 30 wins four times and 20 wins six times. The ultimate breakthrough came in 2009 when the Trojans won the Class 4A crown during their Final Four debut. Leading that 38-4 squad was 6-foot junior outside hitter Kelly Lamberti, who supplied 373 kills. “We put everything on the floor and played as hard as we possibly could,” said Lamberti after notching a match-high 12 kills in a 25-23, 25-17 win over LaGrange Lyons in the final. Langanis said of her charges, “Once they got rolling, I had a sense that it was going to take a lot to stop them.” That 2009 squad included a star of the future in 6-0 sophomore Ashley Rosch, who joined Lamberti in returning Cary-Grove to the 2010 4A final where Lyons turned the tables for a 25-23, 19-25, 25-23 verdict. That setback was the lone blemish on the Trojans’ 41-1 season that saw them ranked No. 1 nationally for six weeks. That loss also ended a 57-match winning streak, which ties Chicago Marist for the second longest in state history. After swatting a still-standing 4A state final record 21 kills, Lamberti noted, “It’s so sad it’s over. I can’t believe it.” An Ohio University recruit, Lamberti was named the Chicago Sun-Times Player of the Year after posting a team-high 321 kills. Setter Colleen Smith, who later played at Indiana and DePaul, chipped in 740 assists. As a senior in 2011, Rosch, who later starred at Illinois State University, again led a 37-5 squad to the 4A final where they lost another three-set heartbreaker, this time to Benet Academy. “The sting is there, obviously we wanted to win it, but the big picture is that we’ve been in the state finals for three years in a row,” Langanis told the media. “We’re so proud of that. This is probably the group that had to work the hardest to get there. Nothing came easy to them.” The Trojans’ most recent state trip came in 2015 when they went 36-6 for third in 4A. Cary-Grove’s leader that season was 6-1 Illinois-Springfield recruit Alli Splitt, who had more than 300 kills. Entering the 2024 season, Langanis, already a Hall of Famer, had a 740-356-1 record since 1995 to rank 25th in state history for career wins.


#27
LYONS TOWNSHIP HIGH SCHOOL | LAGRANGE
Regional Titles: 29
District Titles: 6
Sectional Titles: 16
State Final Trophies: 4
State Championship Appearances/Titles: 4/3
1975: Lyons 2, Barrington 0                       20-1
1989-AA: Lyons 2, Andrew 1                     33-10
2009-4A: Cary-Grove 2, Lyons 0                37-5
2010-4A:  Lyons 2, Cary-Grove 1               41-1
State Final Coaches: Marge McKee (1975, 1979), Joann Pyritz (1989, 2009, 2010)
First Team All-State Players: 1983 – Disa Johnson; 1990 – Kara MacCartie; 1992 – Darcy Juarez; 1999 – Meghan Keck, Sarah Potts; 2004 – Beth Karpiak; 2009 – Jocelynn Birks; 2010 – Jocelynn Birks; 2011 – Alexis Viliunas; 2014 – Hannah Juley.

Lyons: When looking for a volleyball program with winning roots stretching back to the early days of the IHSA state tournament, you’ll find Lyons in a prominent position. In just the second year of the single-class state finals in 1975-76, the Lions went 20-1 to win it all. The final was played on Jan. 31 of 1976 at Illinois State University’s Horton Field House. That contest saw the Lions employ a power-style of play to down Barrington, 20-14, 16-20, 22-20. In the third game, Lyons faced an 18-5 deficit, but strong serving by Joan Moriarity, Sue Kenny, and Andre Ruoti helped put the Lions in front, 19-18. The match ended after back-to-back kills by the 5-foot-10 Ruoti. “We knew we could come back,” Coach Marge McKee told the media. “We just kept hanging in there by a toenail.” Fourteen years later, Lyons came from behind again to win its second title, 9-15, 15-9, 15-6, over Andrew in Class AA. At 33-10, that 1989 squad had more losses than any champion in IHSA history to that point and its coach, Joann Pyritz, was the first mentor to win a title in her first season. In 2009, Pyritz took Lyons back to the Class 4A final, but it lost to Cary-Grove, 25-23, 25-16, despite a team-high eight kills from Jocelynn Birks. The 6-3 Birks was a three-time All-American at the University of Illinois before playing professionally in Germany. After a 2009 regular-season loss to Lyons, Sandburg coach David Vales said, “They have effective servers. The one girl (Birks) top spins it, hand floats it – half the time it just fell in front of our girls. It was a good knuckleball, Charlie Hough-style.” In a 2010 state final rematch, Lyons downed Cary-Grove, 25-23, 19-25, 25-23, as both finished 41-1. The victors were led by Birks’ 18 kills and Alexis Viliunas’ 17 digs. “Jocelynn has been a force that other teams have had to contend with all year,” Pyritz said. “She controls the net with her aggressive attack and leads her teammates by the positive example of her all-around play.” An Illinois recruit, Viliunas would go on to become the 2011 Illinois Gatorade Player of the Year, finishing with a school-record 2,202 assists. In 2004, the 32-9 Lions were led by 6-1 Michigan-recruit Beth Karpiak, who supplied 271 kills and 110 blocks. After the 2017 season, Pyritz ended her Hall-of-Fame career with an 820-305 record that ranks 16th in state history for career wins.


#26
MARIAN CENTRAL CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL | WOODSTOCK
Regional Titles: 21
District Titles: 5
Sectional Titles: 14
State Final Trophies: 4
State Championship Appearances/Titles: 3/1
2011-3A: Breese Mater Dei 2, Marian 0                        35-7
2015-3A: Marian 2, Joliet Catholic 1                              39-3
2016-3A: Chicago Heights Marian 2, Marian 1             40-2
State Final Coaches: Mary Fogarty-Stoner (1978), Tom Faber (1987), Steve Payne (1993), Deb Rakers (2005), Laura Watling (2010, 2011, 2015, 2016)
First Team All-State Players: 2015 – Rachel Giustino; 2016 – McKayla Wuensch.

Central Catholic: On its seventh of eight state volleyball tournament trips, Woodstock Marian Central Catholic dug deep in 2015 for its only title. The Hurricanes topped Joliet Catholic in the Class 3A final, 16-25, 25-18, 25-12, to cap a 39-3 campaign. Entering that season, the Hurricanes had high hopes as the core of their 25-15 Elite Eight team from 2014 returned. Setting the pace for Coach Laura Watling’s squad were four future college players: 5-foot-11 junior outside hitter Sydney Nemtuda (Florida Atlantic), 5-10 senior outside hitter Rachel Giustino (Murray State), 5-10 junior setter McKayla Wuensch (Nevada, Wichita State, UConn), and 6-1 junior right-side hitter Lauren Hanlon (Xavier). Watling’s quick offense helped Woodstock Marian blast 1,283 kills in 2015, the 13th most in state history.  “Without Laura, this team would not have come together in the way that it did,” Giustino said. “She really does her homework. She’s always so well prepared.”  Watling had the Hurricanes ready again in 2016, but their bid to repeat as champion and extend a 24-match winning streak ended with a 25-22, 22-25, 25-22 loss to Chicago Heights Marian in the 3A final. The combined 141 points scored by the 2016 finalists remains the Class 3A title match record. The Hurricanes’ only other loss during that 40-2 season was to St. Charles East. Wuensch ended 2016 with 1,053 assists, the 12th most in state history. Her 34 assists in the 2016 final remains the 3A state tourney record.  “It’s really hard to be a setter,” Watling said. “It’s one of the hardest positions out there because you’re responsible every play for being a focal point and running the offense.”  Nemtuda finished with a school-record 1,013 career kills. Watling’s other state trophy winning teams were the 36-5 third-place squad of 2010 and the 35-7 second-place unit of 2011.  In the 2011 final, Breese Mater Dei won, 25-9, 25-13, as the Hurricanes were held to a negative .013 hitting percentage. Marian’s top hitter, 5-8 junior Tara Blake, later said, “It’s weird to think about it that that was the last time we’ll ever be together as a team … it’s bittersweet, but it had to end eventually. It’s just sad that it ended the way it did.”  Since their last state trip in 2016, the Hurricanes’ collection of 21 regional titles has not grown.


#25
BARRINGTON HIGH SCHOOL | BARRINGTON
Regional Titles: 17
District Titles: 7
Sectional Titles: 14
State Final Trophies: 9
State Championship Appearances/Titles: 4/0
1975: Lyons 2, Barrington 1                                                  27-6
2000-AA: Mother McAuley 2, Barrington 1                       35-8
2002-AA: Downers Grove South 2, Barrington 0              35-7-1
2003-AA: Joliet Catholic 2, Barrington 0                             37-6
State Final Coaches: Maggie (Atols) Kehoe (1975, 1976, 1977, 1978), Karen Traub (2000, 2002, 2003), Christopher Bronke (2006), Michelle Jakubowski (2021, 2022, 2023)
First Team All-State Players: 1982 – Char Horcher; 1983 – Kristen Roman; 2000 – Annie Spicer; 2003 – Nellie Spicer; 2004 – Laura Holloway, Nellie Spicer; 2006 – Lexi Zimmerman.

Barrington: Perspective is needed when judging volleyball success at Barrington, the only school in IHSA history to have finished second in the state tournament four times and won nine state trophies overall without having won a championship.  “How can you be disappointed with second in state?” asked outside hitter Amber Worozaken after a 26-24, 25-18 loss to Joliet Catholic in the 2003 Class AA final.  But then Worozaken, who also played on the 2002 state runner-up squad, answered her own question.  “The hardest part was watching Joliet Catholic get their first-place trophy and first-place medals,” she said. “And watching their fans … that could have been us.”  Many coaches would have traded places with Barrington boss Karen Traub, whose teams placed second in 2000 (35-8), 2002 (35-7-1), and 2003 (37-6). Traub’s squads played with never-say-die determination and were known for making comebacks.  “You can only be down and come back so many times,” lamented Traub after the 2003 final. “It eventually catches up with you.”  Barrington’s stars in 2002 and 2003 were 5-foot-9 setter Nellie Spicer and 6-1 outside hitter Laura Holloway. The jump-serving Spicer went on to star at UCLA before a five-year stint with the US National Team. She also played professionally in Puerto Rico, Poland, Azerbaijan, and China. Holloway, who finished with 1,095 career kills, was named the 2004 Illinois Gatorade Player of the Year. A late-season Holloway injury in 2004 hampered the post-season hopes of a 36-3 Barrington team that had won a fifth consecutive Mid-Suburban League title. She later played two years at Penn State before transferring to UCLA. Spicer’s older sisters, Betsy (1994-96) and Annie (1997-2000), also excelled at Barrington. Betsy went on to play at Illinois while Annie suited up for Virginia Tech. Another all-time great for the Fillies was 5-11 setter Lexi Zimmerman, who led a 33-10 fourth-place state team in 2006. She later walked on at Michigan and became that school’s career assist recordholder with 5,903. In the early years of the state tournament, Barrington was a regular qualifier, placing second in 1975 (27-6), third in 1976 (25-6), and advancing to the quarterfinals in 1977 (25-4) and 1978 (28-5). The Fillies’ other state trophies – all coming with Michelle Jakubowski as coach – were for third in Class 4A in 2021 (33-8) and 2022 (40-2), and for fourth in 2023 (35-7). The 2022 squad, which won a school-record 40 matches, only lost to Huntley in the regular season and Benet in the state semifinals.


#24
SACRED HEART-GRIFFIN | SPRINGFIELD
Regional Titles: 24
District Titles: 5
Sectional Titles: 19
State Final Trophies: 5
State Championship Appearances/Titles: 0/0
State Final Coaches: Helen Dulle (1978, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1994)
First Team All-State Players: 1983 – Missi Wheeler; 1985 – Julie Plattner; 1986 – Susan Wisnosky; 1988 – Eileen Kelly; 1990 – Anne Quenette; 1992 – Melissa Beckwith, Jenny Wood; 1994 – Kristin Fitzgerald; 1997 – Megan O’Connell.

SHG: The standard of Central Illinois volleyball excellence was set by Coach Helen Dulle and Sacred Heart-Griffin (SHG) during the first 20 years of the IHSA state series. In 1988, Sacred Heart Academy, a private all-girls school, combined with the private all-boys Griffin High School. In 2011, the girls switched their team nickname from Blazers to Cyclones. Beginning in 1978, the volleyball program won 16 consecutive Class AA regionals. Starting in 1982, it won 13 straight sectionals. SHG turned all that winning into a dozen state berths between 1979 and 1994. The Cyclones reached the state semifinals in 1978, 1980, 1989, 1992, and 1993, placing fourth each time. Dulle built a 933-265-2 record while coaching every season except one at SHG between 1972 and 2008. The Hall of Famer’s 933 victories rank ninth in state history. Among Dulle’s greatest players was 6-foot-4 middle blocker Megan O’Connell, who finished in 1998 with a state-record 1,662 career kills, a total that now ranks ninth. O’Connell’s 45 kills as a sophomore in 1996 against Red Bud remains the single-match state record. “She’s very quick and very agile and is quite capable of playing every position,” Dulle said in 1999. O’Connell went on to play at Illinois State University and Oklahoma. Dulle’s first state-qualifying squad went 28-9 for fourth in 1978. Led by 5-6 Lorie Miller and 5-5 Molly Ryan, the Blazers won their quarterfinal over Barrington, 20-7, 22-20. In the semifinals against Oak Park-River Forest, Sacred Heart fell, 20-11, 20-11.  “We’ve never faced spiking that intense,” Dulle told the media. In the third-place match, the Blazers lost to Carbondale, 21-19, 13-20, 20-14. In 1980, Sacred Heart set a program record for wins in a season, going 40-4 for fourth after losing to Mother McAuley in the semifinals and Sandburg in the finals. The Blazers’ top hitter that year was 5-10 Debbie Urbanckas, one of several holdovers from the 1978 state roster. In state tourney history, SHG faced McAuley four times, but the Cyclones’ only victory came in the 1989 quarterfinals, 15-12, 11-15, 15-11.  “This is certainly one of my biggest wins,” said Dulle, whose team controlled the net with 6-footers Jenny Wood, Melissa Beckwith, and Tara Lovekamp. “They can block without jumping,” said McAuley coach Nancy Pedersen. Unfortunately for SHG, its momentum vanished during losses to LaGrange Lyons in the semifinals and Rolling Meadows in the third-place match to finish 30-10. In 1992, McAuley got revenge with a semifinal win over SHG, which then lost to Crystal Lake South in the third-place match to finish 35-7.  “Maybe our goals might be too lofty,” Dulle said, “but we’ll never change them.” Dulle’s final state trip in 1994 saw the last victory of a 35-7 season come against Schaumburg in the quarterfinals. Dulle’s career would go on to include two more sectional titles (in 2003 and 2005), but SHG has yet to win another.


#23
ALTHOFF CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL | BELLEVILLE
Regional Titles: 23
District Titles: 2
Sectional Titles: 13
State Final Trophies: 9
State Championship Appearances/Titles: 3/1
1999-AA: Downers Grove South 2, Althoff 0              33-6
2017-3A: Althoff 2, Chicago Resurrection 0                41-1
2018-3A: Sterling 2, Althoff 0                                        37-5
State Final Coaches: Al Veile (1980, 1981), John Rule (1982), Kathy Wuller (1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007), Sara Thomas (2016, 2017), Tony Miner (2018)
First Team All-State Players: 1982 – Kathy Crotty; 1999 – Suzanne Gundlach; 2001 – Lauren Scannell; 2002 – Sara Thomas; 2003 – Sara Thomas; 2004 – Jessica Dalke; 2005 – Jessica Dalke; 2006 – Kelley Michnowicz; 2007 – Kelley Michnowicz; 2008 – Carly Marcum; Carly Thomas; 2009 – Carly Thomas; 2017 – Louise Comerford; 2018 – Karinna Gall; 2019 – Karinna Gall.

Althoff: The 2016 season was a stepping stone for Belleville Althoff prior to winning its lone state title in Class 3A in 2017. In 2016, the Crusaders finished third in Class 2A at 24-12 with a lineup led by 6-foot junior setter Louise Comerford, 6-1 freshman middle hitter Karinna Gall, 5-9 freshman outside hitter Katie Wemhoener, and 5-10 junior right-side hitter Addie Burris. They all returned the next season as Althoff went 41-1, the lone loss coming against Belleville West. In the final, the Crusaders stopped Chicago Resurrection, 25-15, 25-23. “I wanted this for them, and I wanted this for our volleyball program,” said Coach Sara Thomas-Dietrich, who had played for the Crusaders’ 38-5 fourth-place team in 2003 and 33-10 third-place squad in 2004. Thomas-Deitrich had been coached by her aunt, Hall of Famer Kathy Wuller, who led the Crusaders to six state berths and five trophies over an 11-year span. An assistant coach in 2017, Wuller posted a 361-97 record as head coach from 1996 to 2007.  The Belleville News-Democrat 2017 Player of the Year, Comerford finished with more than 2,100 career assists before playing at Miami of Ohio. Gall and Wemhoener returned Althoff to the 3A final in 2018 where they lost to Sterling, 25-21, 25-22, to finish 37-5. “Hats off to Sterling,” said Coach Tony Miner. “They came out and put pressure on us from the beginning and it took us a while to adjust.” Althoff went 135-22 during Gall and Wemhoener’s careers. The 2019 St. Louis Post-Dispatch Metro Player of the Year, Gall finished with 1,190 career kills before playing at Indiana State. Wemhoener went on to play at Missouri State. In 2019, Althoff (enrollment 382) was bumped up to Class 4A due to the IHSA success multiplier. In the sectional final against Minooka (enrollment 2,688), Gall and Wemhoener’s bid for a fourth state trip ended with 27-25, 25-21 defeat. In 2009, 5-11 Missouri State-recruit Carly Thomas finished with 1,232 career assists. The star of Final Four teams in 2006 and 2007 was 6-2 Kelley Michnowicz, who went 123-42 in four years as a starter before playing at Missouri State. In 1999, Althoff ended a 17-year drought between state berths when it played in its first Class AA final, losing to Downers Grove South, 15-8, 15-5. “It would have been very difficult to beat them even with our best game,” Wuller said of the winners. Crusaders making the all-tournament team were Suzanne Gundlach and Emily Scannell.Althoff made its Class AA state tourney debut in 1980 (29-6) under Coach Al Veile, whose 31-1 state team in 1981 suffered its only loss to Sandburg in the quarterfinals. In 2005, Althoff’s 31-8 regional champions were led by 5-10 setter Jessica Dalke, who went on to play for Mississippi.


#22
WEST PRAIRIE HIGH SCHOOL | COLCHESTER
Regional Titles: 24 (7 by Sciota West Prairie, 1 by Sciota Northwestern, 16 by Colchester)
District Titles: 4 (3 by Sciota Northwestern, 1 by Colchester)

Sectional Titles: 17 (6 by Sciota West Prairie, 2 by Sciota Northwestern, 9 by Colchester)
State Final Trophies: 7 (3 by Sciota West Prairie, 4 by Colchester)
State Championship Appearances/Titles: 2/1
1993-A: Mater Dei 2, Colchester 1                38-5

2016-1A: West Prairie 2, Eastland 1              34-5-1

State Final Coaches: Debi Neff – At Sciota Northwestern (1977), Teri Paul – At Colchester: (1990, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2002); At Sciota West Prairie (2006, 2008, 2013, 2016)
First Team All-State Players: none.


West Prairie: No matter the name of their high school, volleyball players from the McDonough County communities of Blandinsville, Colchester, Fandon, Good Hope, Sciota, and Tennessee have been a force to reckon with. The most recent consolidation of Colchester and Northwestern high schools in 2003 created West Prairie, which moved into a newly renovated facility in Colchester in August of 2023. When West Prairie was located in Sciota, Coach Teri Paul continued the volleyball success she began at Colchester. The Hall of Famer’s 965 career victories, the sixth most in state history, include a 538-192-1 run from 1982 to 2002 at Colchester and a 427-245-9 mark from 2003 to 2021 at Sciota West Prairie. The highlight of Paul’s tenure at Sciota West Prairie was winning the 2016 Class 1A state crown when the 34-5-1 Cyclones topped Lanark Eastland in the final, 26-28, 25-21, 25-21. “Our postseason was very difficult,” Paul told the media. “I have to say it was one of the toughest in 1A.” West Prairie’s top hitters were 6-foot junior Peyton Bowman and 5-9 senior Hannah Thompson, who polished off the sets of Cora Vyhnanek. Bowman later played Carl Sandburg College and Western Illinois University.  Paul nearly landed her first title 23 years earlier, but Breese Mater Dei took the 1993 Class A championship match over Colchester, 15-5, 12-15, 15-13. With no players taller than 5-10, the Indians of Colchester struggled to negate Mater Dei’s height advantage. “It’s hard to beat big when big is good,” said Paul, who never had a team win more matches than that 38-5 squad of 1993. Paul’s other state trophies were for third in 1990 (34-4) and 2013 (31-7-2), and for fourth in 1996 (35-7), 2000 (33-6), and 2008 (32-10). The 1990 Colchester crew lost to Princeton in the Class A semifinals before downing Mendota for third, 16-14, 10-15, 15-3. All-tournament selection Stephanie Biswell had 18 kills and Elizabeth Miller 14 while Jennifer Easley dished out 26 assists. “We really played smart,” Paul said. “When they had three blockers up, we tipped it. We mixed it up and it worked.” In 2013, the Cyclones had no one taller than 5-9 when they lost to Rockford Keith in the 1A semis before topping New Athens for third. Sciota West Prairie’s statistical leaders that season were Paige Webster for kills, Hannah Mesick for assists, and Jennifer Schwerer for digs.


#21
CRYSTAL LAKE CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL | CRYSTAL LAKE
Regional Titles: 20
Sectional Titles: 4
State Final Trophies: 3
State Championship Appearances/Titles: 1/1
2007-3A: Crystal Lake Central 2, Wheaton St. Francis 0        42-0

State Final Coaches: Doug Blundy (1989, 2007, 2009), Lisa Brunstrum (2017)

First Team All-State Players: 1993 – Lindsay Anderson.


Crystal Lake Central: Why has Illinois not had an unbeaten state volleyball champion since Crystal Lake Central’s 42-0 squad in 2007? Perhaps increasing parity among elite programs is the reason or maybe catching lightning in a bottle the way the Tigers did is just very hard to do. Such a magical season seemed far off when Doug Blundy was asked to coach in 1984. “They needed someone to coach the team and I had four softball players who also played volleyball,” Blundy told the media in 2007. “I was very upfront that I didn’t know much about it.” Five years later, he guided a 29-7 team to the Class AA Elite Eight. “That team was one of those that surprised everyone,” he said. “This (2007) team wasn’t like that. We knew we had the talent … it was just going out and proving it.” A hint of what lay ahead came during the 2007 regular season when the Tigers, for the first time, defeated rival Crystal Lake Prairie Ridge twice in the same year. Crystal Lake Central’s 42-match winning streak that season remains the sixth longest in state history. The only opponent to force the Tigers to play three sets that year was Sycamore. In the 2007 Class 3A final against Wheaton St. Francis, CLC won, 25-19, 25-23. The senior stars in 2007 included 5-foot-10 Carly Hayes, 6-0 Kathryn Chrystal, 5-6 Kelly Farrell, and 5-11 Rachael Thornquist. Hayes went on to play at Samford (Ala.) and Chrystal at Northwestern. Hayes’ prep exploits included serving 16 aces against Marengo in 2006, a feat that ranks eighth in state history. Another star arrived in 2009 when 6-1 sophomore middle hitter Amelia Anderson helped the Tigers go 37-5 and place fourth in 3A. Prior to the Final Four that year, Blundy said, “When they play as a team, they’re pretty good. Two years ago, we had 42 wins, which is the most you can get. This has been our second best.” Sadly, that was Blundy’s last state trip as he died in 2011 at age 63 after battling cancer. The Hall of Famer’s 1984-to-2010 career record of 782-188 ranks 19th for most wins in state history. Anderson went on to notch a school-record 1,140 career kills and then starred at Indiana. The Tigers’ most recent state trip came in 2017 under Coach Lisa Brunstrum, whose team lost to eventual champion Chicago Marist in the 4A semifinals and then topped St. Charles North for third to finish 33-4. Brunstrum’s kill leader that year was 6-0 sophomore Madde Blake.


#20
NORMAL COMMUNITY HIGH SCHOOL | NORMAL
Regional Titles: 30

District Titles: 3
Sectional Titles: 13
State Final Trophies: 4
State Championship Appearances/Titles: 0/0

State Final Coaches: Ellie Duax (1976), Lois Wisniewski (1996, 2001, 2002), Tom Wait (2003), Andrea Kenny (2004, 2005), Christine Konopasek (2014, 2015)

First Team All-State Players: none.


Normal Community: Of Normal Community High School’s nine super-sectional titles, only one (in 1976) came before the Quack Attack Volleyball Club was founded by Terry and Maxine Quakenbush in Bloomington-Normal in 1991. That club, which became Illini Elite in 1998, has stocked Central Illinois high schools such as Normal Community with a steady stream of stars ever since. Before clubs and even before the IHSA state series began, Coach Ellie Duax had the ball rolling at NCHS in 1971. By 1976, she had a 22-3 squad that reached the Elite Eight. Duax stepped down in the spring of 1995 with a 514-191 record to coach at the newly opened Normal West, which proceeded to go 25-14 to reach the 1995 Class AA Elite Eight. Lois Wisniewski, a former Normal University High and Bloomington Central Catholic coach, coached the Ironmen from 1995 to 2002, going 235-71 and reaching three state tourneys. Her 38-4 team of 2002 finished third in Class AA and her 36-5 squad of 2001 placed fourth. Those seasons were part of a five-year string of state trips continued by coaches Tom Wait in 2003 (35-5) and Andrea Kenny in 2004 (35-5) and 2005 (33-7). Normal Community’s 2002 campaign stands out because it was supposed to be a rebuilding year after DePaul-bound Mandy Moorberg and SIU-Edwardsville recruits Allison Buss and Krystal Majernik had graduated from the 2001 team. Despite having only two seniors in 2002, the Ironmen set school records for wins in a season (38) and highest state finish (third). Helping reload were hitters such as Bre Leisner and Austin Kant, who joined 6-foot-2 Indiana State-recruit Stephanie Roof and Illinois softball signee Shanna Diller to wreak havoc at the net. Leisner, a sophomore, wound up on the state all-tournament team. In the 2002 state third-place match, the Ironmen downed Wheaton Warrenville South, 15-13, 1-15, 15-9.  “We had talked about the fact it doesn’t matter if you’re playing a sandlot game or you’re playing for third place, when you take the court, you play with everything you have because that is what sport is all about,” Wisniewski told the media. In 2014, Normal Community placed third again, going 36-5 in Class 4A under Coach Christine Konopasek, whose 2015 team went 30-11 for fourth. The 2014 squad – which included 6-0 Toledo-recruit Machayla Leonard, Southern Indiana-bound Erika Peoples, and Olivet Nazarene-recruit Micki Quakenbush – topped Wilmette Loyola for third, 25-15, 25-16. Afterward, Loyola coach Mark Chang said, “They are a strong defensive team. That gives them the license and permission to do effective offensive things.”  Among many Normal Community alumni to shine in college was 6-4 Grace Cleveland, a transfer from Wisconsin who helped the Ironmen go 31-6 in 2017 before becoming a Purdue All-American and then playing professionally.

 

 

#19
JACKSONVILLE HIGH SCHOOL | JACKSONVILLE
Regional Titles: 21
District Titles: 2
Sectional Titles: 14
State Final Trophies: 3
State Championship Appearances/Titles: 1/1
1988-AA: Jacksonville 2, Hersey 0                  39-2
State Final Coaches: Larry Sample (1988, 1992, 1997, 1998), Gary Hickox (2012)
First Team All-State Players: 1988 – Missy Aggertt, Susie Green; 1989 – Missy Aggertt; 1990 – Missy Aggertt; 1991 – Missy Aggertt; 1992 – Julie Manker; 1993 – Jennifer White; 1994 – Kay Kiesow; 1996 – Mia Perry; 1997 – Mia Perry; 1998 – Emily Beckwith; 1999 – Michelle Lynch, Emily Beckwith; 2000 – Michelle Lynch; 2001 – Ashley Grubb; 2012 – Jaelyn Keene; 2013 – Jaelyn Keene.

Jacksonville: The most success in Jacksonville volleyball history came with Larry Sample as coach. His first team in 1979 went 12-10 and his second 11-12. Then came 19 consecutive winning seasons including 10 30-win and eight 20-win campaigns. Sample coached Jacksonville from 1978 to 1999 and then Chatham Glenwood from 2006 to 2009 to finish with a 673-160 record that places the Hall of Famer 33rd in state history for career wins. The highlight of Sample’s career was the 39-2 Class AA state championship season of 1988 when the Crimsons became the first downstate winner in the large-school division, topping Arlington Heights Hersey in the final, 19-17, 15-7. That victory was Jacksonville’s reward for having begun a club volleyball program four years earlier to go with its star-generating junior high program. “A few years ago, Chicago schools had the jump on us in open ball,” Sample told the media. “We’re gradually catching up with them just like Chicago is gradually catching up with California.” Leading the Crimsons in 1988 were all-tournament honorees Susie Green, Cheryl Carter, and Beth Foster. Carter’s 293 career aces rank sixth in state history. Another 1988 standout was 5-foot-8 freshman Missy Aggertt, who became the first four-time Champaign News-Gazette first-team all-stater before playing at Florida. Aggertt set school career records for kills (903), assists (1,075), blocks (281), and hitting percentage (.388). Sample also brought teams to the state tournament in 1992 (38-2) and 1997 (35-6), but he didn’t win another trophy until his 34-7 squad of 1998 took third. That team was notable for having 10 underclassmen. “We overcame a lot this year and we gained a lot of experience being here,” Sample said. The Crimsons’ 37-2 team of 1999, which reached the Sweet Sixteen, was led by 6-2 Emily Beckwith, whose 170 blocks pushed her school career record to 577. Jacksonville’s only other state trip came in 2012 under Coach Gary Hickox when the Crimsons went 30-10 and took fourth in Class 3A. Leading the way was 6-2 junior Jaelyn Keene, who set a still-standing 3A state tournament single-match record with 23 kills in a semifinal loss to Richmond-Burton. She finished with 1,355 career kills before starring at Illinois State University. She also played one season of sand volleyball at Alabama-Birmingham. Another all-time great was Michelle Lynch, who was ranked among the top setters in the nation coming out of high school in 2002 and later played at Nebraska. Helping Lynch shine in 2001 was 5-11 ISU-recruit Ashley Grubb, who finished with 997 career kills, a school record at the time.


#18
HARTSBURG-EMDEN HIGH SCHOOL | HARTSBURG
Regional Titles: 21
Sectional Titles: 10
State Final Trophies: 5
State Championship Appearances/Titles: 4/1
2006-A: Hartem 2, Breese Central 1                      38-4
2014-1A: Keith Country Day 2, Hartem 0             30-10
2018-1A: Newark 2, Hartem 0                                36-5
2023-1A: Galena 2, Hartem 0                                 33-8
State Final Coaches: Lisa Miller (1982), Jennifer Hayes (2004, 2005, 2006, 2014, 2018, 2023)
First Team All-State Players: 1996 – Molly Meeker; 2006 – Abby Olson; 2017 – Anna Hayes; 2018 – Anna Hayes.

Hartsburg-Emden: With enrollments that fluctuate between 60 and 90 students, Hartsburg-Emden faces a David-versus-Goliath situation in most volleyball matches. Just like David, the Stags often exploit the advantages of being small as well as the drawbacks hampering larger opponents. Bigger usually means better in volleyball, but Hartsburg-Emden has shown it depends on what is measured. The Stags usually spend more time with each other and their coach than opponents do. Hall-of-Fame coach Jennifer Hayes begins training players as fifth graders. Eight years later, they can challenge the best, which they did and more to win the 2006 Class A state championship, capping a 38-4 season. All told, the Stags have made seven state trips, six with Hayes as coach. Her 2006 team knocked off defending champion Breese Central in the final, 21-25, 25-22, 25-23. Breese Central, which had beaten the Stags in the 2005 semifinals, was the third consecutive school with more than 600 students to lose to Hartem in 2006. “I knew we could do it,” said Hayes, who had seen as much when her seniors won Illinois Elementary School Association state titles as seventh and eighth graders. The 2006 season was the last before a four-class system arrived in 2007, a situation Hayes turned into a motivational tool. “Before the game, I told the girls, ‘this is our last shot with 1A and 2A the way it is,’” she said. “You’ll never (again) have a chance to show what we can do with a two-class system. It doesn’t matter the athletes you have to choose from, it matters the athletes that you have. I have the best athletes anybody could ask for and I wouldn’t want any others.” Among those athletes was 5-foot-11 Illinois State softball recruit Abby Olson, who had 18 kills in the final while 5-11 Natasha Johnston and 5-10 Sara Behrends added 14 and 11 kills, respectively. Setter Jillyn Cross chipped in 35 assists. In 2006, the Stags had 1,337 kills, the sixth most in state history. Hayes later coached Hartem to 1A runner-up finishes in 2014 (30-10), 2018 (36-5), and 2023 (33-8). Among her stars was her 6-1 daughter, Anna, who was the Sports Performance VBC/Illprepvb.com Player of the Year in 2018 and later played at Memphis. Anna Hayes’ 1,807 career kills rank fourth in state history. With her, the Stags went 118-33. Heading into the 2024 season, Jennifer Hayes’ 29-year record at her alma mater is 768-283, which ranks 21st in state history for career wins.


#17
LOCKPORT TOWNSHIP HIGH SCHOOL | LOCKPORT
Regional Titles: 25
District Titles: 2
Sectional Titles: 11
State Final Trophies: 5
State Championship Appearances/Titles: 2/1
1990-AA: Belleville West 2, Lockport 0                           34-9
1993-AA: Lockport 2, Downers Grove South 0              40-3
State Final Coaches: Julia Hudson (1984, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1999)
First Team All-State Players: 1985 – Andra Dystrup; 1992 – Jennifer Peterson; 1993 – Nicole Peterson, Jennifer Peterson; 1994 – Tara Pasch; 1996 – Stephanie Jackson; 1997 – Stephanie Jackson; 1998 – Ashley Ritter; 2002 – Taylor Studzinski.

Lockport: After taking four previous teams to the state tournament, Coach Julia Hudson – with help from all-state twins Nicole and Jennifer Peterson – led Lockport to the promised land in 1993 as the Porters went 40-3 en route to their lone Class AA state title. Hudson would advance three more squads to the state tourney, but never match the glory of 1993. The Hall of Famer ended a 21-year stay at Lockport in 2011 having posted an 857-371-3 record. She picked up another 106 wins at Evansville North in Indiana before retiring in 2019 having pushed her career win total to 963. Only six Illinois coaches have won more. Hudson’s 1993 team, which went 40-0 against in-state competition, saw Nicole Peterson named the Chicago Sun-Times Player of the Year. “We felt all along we were the best team in the state,” Hudson said. “We just didn’t verbalize it to anyone.” In the 15-9, 15-4 title match win over Downers Grove South, Lockport’s Tara Pasch had a team-high seven kills while Amy Lemerman had five kills and two blocks. In 1990, the Porters carried high hopes into what became a 34-9 state runner-up season.  “We have five kids with state experience,” Hudson said of Dawn and Lisa Troutman, Brandy Moran, Tracy Hocutt, and Pam Porto, who had played for Lockport’s state runner-up softball team the previous spring. “These kids know pressure really well.” Helping them shine in volleyball was 6-foot-3 Angie Propp, who later played at Georgia Tech. “When you’ve got a 6-3 kid that puts up a pretty good block, it makes it easier to play defense around her,” said Hudson, whose team couldn’t overcome a Marnie Triefenbach-led Belleville West squad in the final, losing 15-3, 15-3. Lockport’s other state trophies were for third in 1984 (41-4) and 1991 (39-4), and fourth in 1996 (34-9). The 1984 squad, led by 6-0 Mary Jo Waddell, topped Chicago Bogan in the quarterfinals before eventual-champion Chicago Mother McAuley avenged a regular-season loss to Lockport in the semifinals. The Porters then bested Downers Grove North for third. In 1991, playing for third had extra meaning when the opponent turned out to be perennial power McAuley, which fell to Lockport, 15-12, 15-9, as Jill Waddell provided a match-high 14 kills. In 1996, the Porters lost the third-place match to fellow South Inter-Conference Association West member Palos Hills Stagg, 15-13, 15-4. Lockport’s star in 1997 was Chicago Sun-Times Player of the Year Stephanie Jackson. The Porters’ most recent state berth came in 1999 when their 27-14 campaign ended in the quarterfinals. In 2002, 6-0 all-stater Taylor Studzinski, an Oregon State recruit, had 383 kills to push her three-year total to 828.


#16
STEWARDSON-STRASBURG HIGH SCHOOL | STRASBURG
Regional Titles: 21
District Titles: 6
Sectional Titles: 13
State Final Trophies: 9
State Championship Appearances/Titles: 5/1
1984-A: IC Catholic 3, Stew-Stras 2                        33-3
1985-A: Lisle 2, Stew-Stras 0                                   37-1
1986-A: Stew-Stras 2, Easton 0                               33-0
2013-1A: Rockford Keith 2, Stew-Stras 0               28-13
2017-1A:  Seymour 2, Stew-Stras 0*                      34-7
(*) – in co-op with Windsor.
State Final Coaches: Jarielle Harner Winkleman (1978, 1979, 1984, 1985, 1986), Cathy Wenthe (1993, 1994, 1995), Ronda Schlechte (2013, 2017)
First Team All-State Players: 1984 – Laura Bush; 1985 – Laura Bush; 1986 – Laura Bush; 1990 – Cathy Koontz; 1994 – Melissa Beitz, Tammy Vonderheide; 1995 – Melissa Beitz, Tammy Vonderheide; 2017 – Megan Schlechte.

Stewardson-Strasburg: Stewardson-Strasburg is a perfect example of a “volleyball school.” The Shelby County institution, which had 122 students in 2023, offers five sports for girls and five for boys. The volleyball program, however, has made 11 state trips while all the other sports combined have made three. Long known as the Comettes, Stew-Stras formed a sports co-op with Windsor in 2015 and became the Hatchets. During the first 21 years of the IHSA state volleyball series, it was the Comettes who made eight state trips, none better than the Class A state championship run of 1986. That 33-0 squad, the eighth chronologically among 11 unbeatens in state history, was coached by Jarielle Harner Winkleman. Her star was 5-foot-9 Laura Bush, who could touch 10 feet high with help from a 74-inch wingspan. Bush went on to play at Illinois after turning down offers from UCLA, Stanford, Ohio State, and Pacific. Bush helped Stew-Stras win 37 straight matches in 1985 and 36 straight across 1986 and 1987. Both streaks rank among the 15 longest in state history. In 1986, Bush hit a robust .558. “You won’t see a more dominating player than Laura Bush in Class A,” her coach said. “You might think she is compiling these statistics against weak opponents, but she does it at the same clip on the state level.” In the 1986 final, Stew-Stras downed Easton (enrollment 62), 15-7, 15-6, after winning its semifinal over Lisle, the team that had given the Comettes their only loss during the 37-1 state runner-up campaign of 1985. Winkleman’s other state runner-up was the 33-3 team of 1984 which lost the only five-set final in state history to Elmhurst Immaculate Conception. She also coached third-place teams in 1978 (32-2) and 1979 (33-2). After 14 years as coach, Winkleman stepped down prior to the 1988 season never having had a losing season en route to a 349-49 record. Sadly, she passed away in 2018 at age 65. Another successful volleyball era arrived with Coach Cathy Wenthe, who made three straight state trips ending with a 37-4 third-place finish in 1995. Winning ways resumed in Class 1A not long after Ronda Schlechte became coach in 2011 as she guided teams to second in 2013 (28-13) and 2017 (34-7), and third in 2016 (35-6). In the 2013 final, the Comettes fell to Rockford Keith, 25-18, 25-17. In 2017, the victor was Payson Seymour, 25-12, 27-25. Schlechte’s biggest star was her 5-11 daughter, Megan, who still holds the Class 1A state tournament record for kills in a match with 29 against Durand in the 2017 semifinals. Megan Schlechte went on to play for Lewis University.


#15
ST. CHARLES EAST HIGH SCHOOL | ST. CHARLES
Regional Titles: 32
Sectional Titles: 13
State Final Trophies: 7
State Championship Appearances/Titles: 3/2
1985-AA: McAuley 2, St. Charles 0                            34-7
2001-AA: St. Charles East 2, Sandburg 0                  41-2
2008-4A: St. Charles East 2, Benet 1                         38-4
State Final Coaches: Shirley Fasbender (1985, 1986), Jennifer Kull (1998, 2001, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2022)
First Team All-State Players: 1985 – Lisa Vitali; 1992 – Colleen Miniuk; 1995 – Jerilyn Hattendorf; 1996 – Jerilyn Hattendorf; 1999 – Brooke Dodson; 2000 – Lauren Harks; 2001 – Dani Nyenhuis, Sarah Vitali; 2003 – Stacy Vitali; 2008 – Laura Homann; 2011 – Meghan Niski; 2018 – McKenna Slavik.

St. Charles East: St. Charles High School has roots in the IHSA going back to early 1900's and became St. Charles East in 2000 when the district opened a second high school (North). The Saints began winning volleyball regionals in 1983. By 1985, the school had its first state trophy as Coach Shirley Fasbender’s 34-7 squad placed second in Class AA after falling to Chicago Mother McAuley in the final, 15-7, 15-7. Fasbender’s crew returned to the state tourney in 1986, finishing fourth at 32-6. A 12-year state tournament absence followed before second-year Coach Jennifer Kull returned St. Charles to the 1998 Elite Eight with 5-foot-9 Brooke Dodson leading the way to a 34-7 record. Dodson signed with Kentucky before transferring to Northern Illinois. In 2000, St. Charles North opened, and St. Charles became St. Charles East. A year later, the Kull-coached Fighting Saints went 41-2 en route to their first Class AA state title. Leading that 2001 squad, which included nine seniors, was 6-0 Dani Nyenhuis, a North Carolina recruit who had 14 kills in the 15-12, 15-12 title match win over Sandburg. Her teammates included 6-1 Penn State-recruit Kim Holm, 6-2 Indiana-bound Ashley White (who transferred to Pitt), and 6-1 Purdue-recruit Sarah Vitali. “They all play club all year round and that’s huge,” Kull said. “They are game smart. We are a tall team, but we’re athletic and get the job done.”  After going 29-13 for third in Class 4A in 2007, St. Charles East expected a rebuilding year in 2008, but instead earned title No. 2, finishing 38-4 by upsetting No. 9-nationally ranked Lisle Benet and its six Division I recruits in the final, 23-25, 25-22, 25-19. Junior Caroline Niski, who had a team-high 16 kills in the final, said, “We knew we were the underdogs and had absolutely nothing to lose.” Syracuse-bound setter Laura Homann added 28 assists for the Fighting Saints, giving her 1,065 for the season, the eighth most in state history. A key freshman in 2008, Meghan Niski led a 35-7 third-place state squad in 2011. She finished with 1,277 career kills before becoming a four-year starter at James Madison University. Setting her up for prep success was Western Michigan-bound Erienne Barry, whose 2,722 career assists between 2009 and 2013 rank 14th in state history. A star from the 2016-18 era was 6-1 McKenna Slavik, who became a record-setting setter at Clemson. In 1992, Colleen Miniuk, a 6-0 Stanford recruit, was the Champaign News-Gazette Player of the Year after averaging 4.4 kills per game on .453 hitting. In 2022, Kull retired as coach after leading the 33-9 Fighting Saints to fourth in 4A. The Hall of Famer’s 779-323 record ranks 20th in state history for career wins.


#14
EASTLAND HIGH SCHOOL | LANARK
Regional Titles: 23
Sectional Titles: 8
State Final Trophies: 5
State Championship Appearances/Titles: 4/3
2008-A: Eastland 2, A-C Central 1                   39-3
2009-A: Eastland 2, Mt. Pulaski 1                   40-2
2015-A: Eastland 2, Cissna Park 0                   40-1-1
2016-1A: West Prairie 2, Eastland 1               30-10-1
As Lanark: District Titles: 2, Regional Titles: 3.
State Final Coaches: Kristy Pierce (2003, 2008, 2009, 2015), Mallory Clements (2016)
First Team All-State Players: 2016 – Makenzie Fink.

Eastland: With a coaching record of 941-206-10, Kristy Pierce ranks eighth in state history for career victories. It took 22 years of persistence before she advanced a team to the state tournament in 2003. She started her career with 73 wins at Shannon, which consolidated in 1986 with Lanark to form Eastland where she won 868 more matches before retiring after the 2015 season. The Hall of Famer’s .818 winning percentage across 33 seasons produced 19 regional titles. In 2008 and 2009, her assistants included her husband, Jim. In 2009, Pierce’s oldest daughter, Kelsey, also served as an assistant while the team’s senior captain was Pierce’s youngest daughter, Karissa. “They have been a part of volleyball for a long time,” Pierce said of her daughters. In 2003, Pierce and Eastland went 36-7 for fourth in Class A. That team was led by 5-foot-9 Chelsey Bunyer, whose 235 blocks that season rank 15th in state annals. History shows Pierce was just getting warmed up as she went on to secure 1A state crowns in 2008 (39-3), 2009 (40-2), and 2015 (40-1-1). Among public schools, only Freeburg has won more state titles than Eastland, which shares second with Downers Grove South, Breese Central, Stewardson-Strasburg, and LaGrange Lyons. Eastland’s 2008 squad, which only had two seniors, earned the school’s first title in any sport by downing A-C Central, 25-22, 21-25, 25-23. “This is the best defensive team I’ve had in 27 years,” Pierce told the media. In the 2009 final, the Cougars topped Mount Pulaski, 25-15, 26-28, 25-17. That Eastland team and the 2008 squad were led by Courtney Blair and Hope Linker. In 2010, the 6-foot-1 Blair finished with a state-record 634 career blocks while Linker ended with 2,998 career assists, the seventh most in state history. Roughly 70% of Eastland’s roster played for No Limits Volleyball, a club coached by Pierce. “I developed this club for the multi-sport athlete who has other demands in other sports,” she said. Eastland returned to the Final Four in 2015 behind 6-1 junior Makenzie Fink, who had a 1A tourney record 24 kills while leading the 40-1-1 Cougars past Cissna Park in the final, 25-16, 25-16. The 2016 Cougars, coached by former Mount Pulaski star Mallory Clements, finished second in 1A at 30-10-1 after falling to Sciota West Prairie in the final, 26-28, 25-21, 25-21. Fink had 676 kills that season, the fourth most in state history. Her 1,553 career kills rank 17th all-time. Another prominent player in Lanark history is Nancy Cassons, who notched 133 aces across 22 matches in 1978 to rank 10th in state history.


#13
FREEBURG HIGH SCHOOL | FREEBURG
Regional Titles: 21
District Titles: 6
Sectional Titles: 11
State Final Trophies: 7
State Championship Appearances/Titles: 4/4
1979-A: Freeburg 2, IC Catholic 1                         34-4
1982-A: Freeburg 2,  IC Catholic  0                       38-3
2008-2A: Freeburg 2, Tolono Unity 0                   37-5
2009-2A: Freeburg 2, Chicago Christian 1           38-2
State Final Coaches: Mary Anne Downen (1977, 1979, 1980, 1981), Sue Merker (1982, 1983), Lesa Bolt (2008, 2009)
First Team All-State Players: 2008 – Andrea Bolt; 2010 – Chelsi Hummert.

Freebiurg: In a sport that rewards height, the Lady Midgets of Freeburg have loomed large, winning four state titles, the most of any public school. When a two-class system was introduced in 1977, Freeburg made its first state trip and began its collection of seven state trophies by placing third in Class A with a 31-3 record. Two years later, Coach Mary Anne Downen guided a 34-4 squad to the school’s first title with a 20-10, 6-20, 20-11 win over Elmhurst Immaculate Conception. That 1979 team, led by the strong hitting and serving of sisters Julie and Cindy Mueller, thrived by employing a variety of offenses. “It keeps the team sharp,” Downen explained to the Belleville News-Democrat. “The players don’t get flat doing the same thing all the time. The more we change, the better the girls seem to do.” Later, Julie Mueller did quite well for Illinois State University where she earned All-American honors. “She’s got a super vertical jump and a natural snap in her arm,” Downen said. “But those are things that aren’t taught.” Downen resigned as coach in the spring of 1982, but four starters returned in the fall for new coach Sue Merker to again best Elmhurst Immaculate Conception in the Class A final, 15-7, 15-5, capping a 38-3 season.  “On the first day of practice, I had them write their goals, and winning state was everybody’s No. 1,” Merker told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Freeburg’s route to the title included a semifinal win over Mendota, the team that had beaten the Lady Midgets in state play in 1980 and 1981. In 2008, Freeburg ended a 25-year state tourney drought, topping Tolono Unity in the Class 2A final, 25-16, 25-16, to finish 37-5.  “We’ve never had the cohesiveness that we do this year,” said senior setter Krystin Wahlig. The Lady Midgets defended their crown in 2009, finishing 38-2 after downing Chicago Christian in the final, 25-19, 24-26, 25-17. Freeburg’s only losses that year were to Breese Mater Dei and St. Louis Cor Jesu Academy. Making it a tall order to beat Freeburg in 2008 and 2009 were 5-foot-11 Chelsi Hummert, 6-2 Kayleigh Cox, 6-0 Colleen Yarber, 6-0 Lucy Balch, 6-1 Kelsey Robinson, 6-0 Kelsey Mueller, and 5-9 Sam Kassing. Keeping the ball alive in 2008 was libero Andrea Bolt, who had 517 digs. The daughter of Coach Lesa Bolt, Andrea Bolt later played at Saint Louis University. Like other state volleyball powers, the Lady Midgets enjoyed the benefits of generational talent. Hummert’s mother, Jenny, the program’s assistant coach in 2008, had played for Freeburg’s 1979 and 1981 title teams. While Freeburg, which has an enrollment of 663, has had most of its success in Class A and 2A, its latest regional title in 2023 came in Class 3A.


#12
IC CATHOLIC PREP | ELMHURST
Regional Titles: 26
District Titles: 4
Sectional Titles: 18
State Final Trophies: 9
State Championship Appearances/Titles: 8/3
1979-A: Freeburg 2, IC Catholic 1                             22-6
1980-A: Quincy Notre Dame 2, IC Catholic 0          23-4
1981-A: IC Catholic 2, Mendota 0                             37-4-1
1982-A: Freeburg 2, IC Catholic 0                             38-6
1984-A: IC Catholic 3, Stew-Stras 2                           31-8
2013-2A: IC Catholic 2, Edwards County 0              32-5
2022-2A: Genoa-Kingston 2, IC Catholic 0              33-2
2023-2A: Mater Dei 2, IC Catholic 0                         36-4
State Final Coaches: Jean Field (1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1989, 1993, 2013), Nancy Kerrigan (2022, 2023)
First Team All-State Players: 1988 – Eileen Shannon; 1989 – Kristin Henriksen, Kathleen Shannon; 1990 – Kathleen Shannon; 1992 – Maureen Shannon; 1993 – Lauren Burny; 2023 – Ava Falduto.

IC Catholic: Celebrating a state volleyball powerhouse frequently means applauding the work of an influential coach. In the case of Elmhurst Immaculate Conception (renamed IC Catholic Prep in 2013), that means tipping our caps to Jean Field, who ranks 12th in state career coaching victories after going 887-476-7 during two stints as head coach (1973-74 and 1977-2013). Field set a daunting standard of excellence when she began a string of six consecutive state tournament appearances in 1979. Her legacy continued in 2014 when one of her former players, Nancy Kerrigan, took over as coach and went 244-100 over 10 years before stepping down prior to the 2024 season. Field and Kerrigan, both Hall of Famers, took the program to eight state championship matches, a total only five schools have surpassed. After back-to-back runner-up Class A finishes in 1979 (22-6) and 1980 (23-4), the Lady Knights won it all in 1981, finishing 37-4-1 after a 15-12, 15-11 win over Mendota. Leading the way were Gerry Dvorak and Linda Tully, who were named to the media-selected all-tournament team. The Lady Knights earned another Class A crown in 1984 with a 10-player squad featuring six sophomores and no juniors. “Winning is old hat to me, but it isn’t to them,” Field told the Chicago Tribune after the super-sectional. That 1984 season was the only one in state history to use a best-of-five-games scoring format. This was before rally scoring to 25 points was introduced in 2003. Immaculate Conception, with Kerrigan on the roster, won the 1984 final over Stewardson-Strasburg, 15-5, 15-5, 12-15, 14-16, 15-9. Among the greats mentored by Field was Lauren Burny, who finished with 1,208 career kills. Her 609 kills over 40 matches in 1993 was a state record that has since slipped to eighth all-time. Kerrigan served as assistant coach in 2013, when her daughter, Delaney D’Amore, was among three seniors to help the Lady Knights go 32-5 and beat Albion Edwards County, 25-15, 25-19, for the Class 2A state crown. “To have her by my side was amazing knowing she won state, too,” D'Amore told The Press of Elmhurst. As head coach, Kerrigan helped IC Catholic finish second in 2A in both 2022 (33-2) and 2023 (36-4). Her 17-0 squad in 2020 was denied a post-season opportunity by the pandemic. The Shannon family was notable in program history as Maureen Shannon earned all-state honors in 1992 after sisters Eileen and Kathleen had done likewise in 1988 and 1990, respectively. Eileen Shannon was the 1988 Champaign News-Gazette Player of the Year and Kathleen Shannon was the 1990 Chicago Sun-Times Player of the Year, an award that went to teammate Kristin Henriksen in 1989.

#11
BENET ACADEMY | LISLE
Regional Titles: 23
District Titles: 2
Sectional Titles: 11
State Final Trophies: 9
State Championship Appearances/Titles: 8/4
2008-4A: St. Charles East 2, Benet 1                           40-2
2011-4A: Benet 2, Cary-Grove 1                                  39-3
2012-4A: Benet 2, New Trier 1                                     40-2
2013-4A: Mother McAuley 2, Benet 0                        36-6
2014-4A: Benet 2, Libertyville 0                                   41-1
2019-4A: Benet 2, Wheaton Warrenville South 0     41-1
2022-4A: Mother McAuley 2, Benet 1                        37-5
2023-4A: Mother McAuley 2, Benet 1                        39-3
State Final Coach: Brad Baker (2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023)
First Team All-State Players: 2008 – Jessica Jendryk, Ariana Mankus; 2010 – Lara Ontko; 2011 – Jenna Jendryk, Meghan Haggerty; 2012 – Sheila Doyle, Hannah Kaminsky; 2013 – Caroline Wolf; 2014 – Rachael Fara; 2015 – Tiffany Clark, Sara Nielsen; 2016 – Sara Nielsen; 2019 – Hattie Monson; 2021* – Rachel Muisenga; 2023 – Aniya Warren.
(*) – denotes Sports Performance VBC/Illprepvb.com Player of the Year during the pandemic-shortened spring season.

Benet: Explaining Benet Academy’s ascendancy in volleyball may be as simple as cause and effect. The cause was Brad Baker becoming coach in 2007 and the effect was the Redwings winning all 11 of their sectional titles and all nine of their state trophies including four Class 4A titles under his watch. Benet had never won a sectional until Baker’s second year as coach and by the next season had reached its first state final where it lost a close three-setter to St. Charles East. Not counting the 10-0 pandemic season of 2021, every Baker-coached Benet squad has won at least 32 matches. The Hall of Famer entered 2024 ranked 31st in state history with 679 career victories, having gone 85-59 at Addison Trail (2003-06) and 594-67 at Benet (2007-23). In 2011, the 39-3 Redwings were led to their first title by 6-foot-3 Meghan Haggerty and 6-0 Jenna Jendryk. Haggerty later helped Nebraska win an NCAA title while Jendryk played at Dayton. In 2012, Benet (40-2) became the first repeat big-school champion in 17 years, winning the final over New Trier, 21-25, 25-22, 25-17, with help from Cara Mattaliano’s 4A title match record 21 kills.  “They outplayed us in the first half, and we outplayed them in the second half,” Baker told the Chicago Tribune. “That’s what mattered. You have to finish, and we finished.”  Among other illustrious alumni are Hattie Monson, Tiffany Clark, Denise Boylan, Hannah Kaminsky, Sara Nielsen, and Jessica Jendryk. A 5-6 Notre Dame-recruit, Monson led a 41-1 title team which avenged its only loss to Chicago Marist in the 2019 state semifinals before downing Wheaton Warrenville South in the final, 25-12, 25-16. In 2014, Clark keyed a 41-1 state title team and later became a libero on Wisconsin’s 2019 NCAA runner-up team after transferring from Michigan. That Benet squad, which suffered its only loss to Chicago Mother McAuley (a setback it avenged in the super-sectional), included 6-3 Rachael Fara, who later played at Northwestern, Dayton, and Colorado. In 1996, the 6-1 Boylan became the state’s first Gatorade National Player of the Year before starring at Notre Dame. Kaminsky, who later played for Southern Illinois, had a school-record 1,041 assists in 2012 to rank 20th in state history. In 2016, Nielsen, who later played at Minnesota and Kansas, finished as Benet’s record holder for career assists with 3,004, ranking sixth in state history. In 2008, 6-1 Jessica Jendryk finished with 474 career blocks to rank eighth in state annals. She later played at Illinois and Saint Louis University. In 2013, Wake Forest-recruit Caroline Wolf had a school-record 532 digs. Benet’s 39-3 state runner-up squad of 2023 was led by junior all-stater Aniya Warren, a libero who has committed to Indiana.


 

#10
NOTRE DAME HIGH SCHOOL | QUINCY
Regional Titles: 24
District Titles: 7
Sectional Titles: 18
State Final Trophies: 10
State Championship Appearances/Titles: 9/4
1977-A: Chicago St. Mary 2, Notre Dame 1            30-1
1978-A: Notre Dame 2, Tolono Unity 1                    32-0
1980-A: Notre Dame 2, Elmhurst IC 1                      34-0
1983-A: Riverton 2, Notre Dame 1                           36-4
1998-A: Notre Dame 2, Kansas 1                              33-10
1999-A: Normal U High 2, Notre Dame 1                32-11
2001-A: Breese Mater Dei 2, Notre Dame 0            27-16
2011-2A: Notre Dame 2, Chicago Christian 1          29-9
2017-2A: St. Thomas More 2, Notre Dame 1          33-9
State Final Coaches: Bill Starkey (1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1993), Rhonda Jensen (1998, 1999, 2001), Christine Stephens (2003), Rich Meyer (2011, 2017)
First Team All-State Players: 1982 – Caren Kemner.

QND: Quincy Notre Dame has not qualified for the state volleyball tournament this decade, but if history is any indication the Lady Raiders will soon add to their collection of 10 state trophies because they qualified in every previous decade since the 1970s. Their first state trip came in 1977 when Bill Starkey coached the Lady Raiders to a 30-1 record, the only loss coming against Chicago St. Mary of Perpetual Help in the Class A final. In 1978, Starkey’s crew was even better, going 32-0 – the second unbeaten team in IHSA history and the first champion with a male coach – after topping Tolono Unity in the final, 20-4, 20-17. “The first two matches here, we were terrible,” Starkey told the media. “We were so nervous. It’s a wonder we got to the final. It’s a real credit to the girls that they still won.”  Making the all-tournament team were Karen Heinze and Debbie Lawrence.  Notre Dame played in Class AA in 1979, but with the help of 6-foot-1 freshman Caren Kemner still went 27-4 to reach the Elite Eight. Kemner & Co. returned to the Class A ranks in 1980, finishing 34-0 after downing Elmhurst Immaculate Conception in the final, 15-4, 15-10. Kemner and Barb Nutt made the all-tournament team. “She’s really a blue-chipper,” Starkey said of Kemner, who had a 25-inch vertical jump. “She’s big and coordinated.” Kemner went on to play in the 1988, 1992, and 1996 Olympics. A member of the US National team for 15 years, she also played professionally in Italy, Brazil, and Japan. As a senior, she led a third-place state squad to a school-record 45 wins against just two losses, giving her a four-year record of 145-8. After 1994, Starkey stepped down as coach with a 20-year record of 500-176. In 1998, Notre Dame won its third crown, topping Kansas in the final, 2-15, 15-7, 15-13, to finish with more losses than any previous Class A champion at 33-10. “Every match, we learned something new,” said Coach Rhonda Jensen. “No matter what I asked them in practice, they would do it. If I asked them to run through a brick wall, they would give me a funny look and say, ‘here goes nothing.’”  The Lady Raiders’ most recent title in 2011 – with Hall-of-Famer Rich Meyer serving as coach – saw them rally past Chicago Christian, 21-25, 26-24, 25-21, as Kristen Gengenbacher supplied a Class 2A title match record 28 assists. Another Notre Dame standout was 6-0 Krista Ridder, who notched 500 career blocks to rank sixth in state history. She was part of a 27-11 state-qualifying squad in 1993 and later played at Illinois State University.

Caren Kemner Feature Story: Click here


#9
BELLEVILLE WEST HIGH SCHOOL | BELLEVILLE
Regional Titles: 24
District Titles: 4
Sectional Titles: 18
State Final Trophies: 4
State Championship Appearances/Titles: 2/2
1990-AA: Belleville West 2, Lockport 0                            38-1
1991-AA: Belleville West 2, Crystal Lake South 0           38-1
State Final Coaches: Larry Betz (1976), Charles Rodman (1977, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004)
First Team All-State Players: 1989 – Marnie Triefenbach; 1990 – Marnie Triefenbach; 1991 – Marnie Triefenbach; 1995 – Sarah Emke; 1996 – Lindsay Rust; 1998 – Nicole Panzau; 2000 – Christina Archibald, Erin Noble; 2001 – Katelyn Panzau; 2002 – Katelyn Panzau; 2004 – Lauren DeGirolamo; 2011 – Emily Becker.

Belleville West: Any historical reference to Belleville West volleyball must begin with Marnie Triefenbach. The 6-foot sensation led the Maroons to their only Class AA state titles in 1990 and 1991, going 38-1 each season. In 1991, Triefenbach was named the USA Today National Player of the Year. Her 1,127 career kills briefly stood as the national record. A six-rotation player with a heavy, top-spin serve, Triefenbach also finished with 225 career blocks before heading to Stanford where she was part of two NCAA championship teams.  “It’s hard to imagine that there is anyone as good as Marnie,” Belleville West coach Charles Rodman told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “She took things to other levels.” Belleville West’s other state trophies were for third in 2004 (37-6) and fourth in 1976 (23-4). The Maroons’ 16 state berths rank fourth in state history and rank first among public schools. However, no school has lost more Elite Eight matches than Belleville West’s 12. Between its trophy-winning seasons of 1991 and 2004, the Maroons lost in the quarterfinals six straight times. That slump ended with a win over Sandburg in 2004 with help from 6-1 Lauren DeGirolamo, who later played at LSU, and 6-0 Truman State-recruit Melissa Keck. That 2004 triumph was more than just another win to Rodman, who said, “It’s special just because volleyball is an important part of my life and an important part of the lives of these kids, but it’s more important because these are the kinds of athletes and students that I love to coach.”  The Maroons went on to lose to Crystal Lake Prairie Ridge in the semifinals before topping Downers Grove South for third. In 2000, the Maroons’ 38-3 Class AA Elite Eight team was led by 6-1 Indiana-recruit Christina Archibald, who had 307 kills, and Duke-recruit Erin Noble, who had 344 kills. In 2002, 5-11 setter Katelyn Panzau had 821 assists for a 37-4 state team before going on to play at South Carolina and Missouri State. Panzau’s older sisters, twins Nicole and Sarah, starred for a 32-8 Elite Eight squad in 1998. Rodman ended a 28-year Hall-of-Fame coaching career after the 2004 season with an 815-164-2 record that ranks 17th for wins in state history. “The joy of the sport is playing,” he said after his final match. “Sometimes we forget the fun part because we are worried about wins and losses.” Since Rodman’s last victory, the Maroons have advanced beyond the regionals four times, but no further. During the blizzard-delayed 1976-77 state tournament, Belleville West opened with a win over Shelbyville before falling to Oak Lawn and Barrington to finish fourth. “It’s a shame we don’t get to play that type of competition all year,” Coach Larry Betz told the Belleville News-Democrat. In 2011, 6-0 Emily Becker ended her career with 1,003 kills to rank third in school history.

Read about how Charles Rodman's understated approach led to West's vball ascension: Click here


#8
UNIVERSITY HIGH SCHOOL | NORMAL
Regional Titles: 24
District Titles: 1
Sectional Titles: 16
State Final Trophies: 7
State Championship Appearances/Titles: 3/2
1994-A: Breese Mater Dei 2, U High 0                        36-4-1
1999-A: U High 2, Quincy Notre Dame 1                    37-5
2000-A: U High 2, Wheaton St. Francis 0                    41-1
State Final Coaches: Lois Wisniewski (1987, 1988, 1992, 1994), Char Lehnen (1997, 1998, 1999, 2000), Michael Bolhuis (2017, 2019)
First Team All-State Players: 1995 – Rebecca Dady; 1997 – Jenny Rohren; 1999 – Ogonna Nnamani; 2000 – Ogonna Nnamani; 2002 – Njideka Nnamani; 2021* – Kendall Burk; 2022 – Lily Barry.
(*) – denotes pandemic-shortened spring season.

UHIGH: For a program that has made state trips every decade from the 1980s to the 2010s, it is nevertheless easy to pinpoint the golden age of Normal University High School volleyball as being 1999 and 2000. Those Class A state championship seasons showcased Ogonna Nnamani, a 6-foot-1 outside hitter who could touch 11 feet high thanks to a 36-inch vertical jump. Nnamani was named the Gatorade National Player of the Year in 2000 and went on to make the U.S. Olympic team in 2004 and 2008. She also played on two NCAA championship teams at Stanford before playing professionally in Puerto Rico, Switzerland, Turkey, Italy, and the Czech Republic. She helped U High go 149-15 while nabbing four state berths. In the 1999 state final, a 15-10, 12-15, 15-9 triumph over Quincy Notre Dame, Nnamani had 21 kills, one shy of the tourney record. “The adrenalin gets in your eyes,” she told the media while describing the last point after which she joined a jubilant pile of crying teammates. In the 2000 state final against Wheaton St. Francis, Nnamani had 18 kills in a 15-11, 15-13 win to push her career total to 1,421.  “I was impressed by her ability to move her hitting where she wanted,” said St. Francis coach Peg Kopec. Nnamani’s setter, Anne Butts, went on to play at Kent State after notching an IHSA record 3,408 career assists, a total that has since slipped to third in state history. U High’s title teams had an experienced coach in Char Lehnen, who had coached Riverton to the 1983 Class A crown. She went 308-30 from 1995 to 2000 with the Pioneers. Among the stars on Lehnen’s 37-3 state team in 1997 was Jenny Rohren, who finished with a then-state record 2,705 career assists before playing at Valparaiso and Illinois State University. U High’s climb into the state’s upper volleyball echelons began in 1984 when Lois Wisniewski became coach. The Pioneers were a humble 2-18 in 1985, but on that roster was 5-9 freshman Lisa Raimondi, among the program’s first club players. Raimondi and U High improved to 14-9 in 1986 and made the program’s first state appearance in 1987, placing fourth in Class A at 25-8-1. As a senior in 1988, Raimondi’s 26-6 team again made the Elite Eight and she made the all-tournament team. After a 26-9-1 state trip in 1992, U High moved up to second in 1994, going 36-4-1 following a 15-2, 15-8 loss to Breese Mater Dei. Those 1994 Pioneers were led by 6-2 sophomore Rebecca Dady, who later played at Georgia. She finished with a state-record 1,651 career kills, a total that has since slipped to 10th. Following Nnamani into the professional volleyball ranks were setters Taylor Bruns and Val Nichol, who were Pantagraph Area Players of the Year in 2008 and 2010, respectively. Bruns went on to play at South Carolina before playing professionally in Sweden, Germany, Belgium, Finland, and the USA. After starring at Purdue, Nichol played professionally in Germany and Poland. U High’s most recent Final Four visits under Hall-of-Fame coach Michael Bolhuis came in Class 3A where it finished third in 2017 (29-11) and fourth in 2019 (33-8). Bolhuis stepped down as coach prior to the 2024 season after going 229-57 over eight years that included six regional titles and four sectional crowns.

Ogonna Nnamani's Midwestern Work Ethic Set Course For Success On & Off The Court: Read Feature Story


#7
BREESE CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL | BREESE
Regional Titles: 21
Sectional Titles: 11
State Final Trophies: 9
State Championship Appearances/Titles: 5/3
1996-A: Breese Central 2, Mt. Pulaski 0                       36-3
2005-A: Breese Central 2, Columbia 0                          34-9
2006-A: Hartsburg-Emden 2, Breese Central 1           36-7
2007-A: Breese Central 2, Hampshire 0                       33-8
2010-A: Chicago Christian 2, Breese Central 1            30-12
State Final Coaches: Diane Marsh (1992), Jim Cook (1996, 1997, 1999, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2013)
First Team All-State Players: 1996 – Lea Beckemeyer; 1997 – Amy Heimann; 2005 – Sarah Barth; 2006 – Laura Budde; 2007 – Laura Budde; 2011 – Taylor Voss; 2013 – Madison Timmerman.

Breese Central: When it came to creating volleyball glory for Breese Central, no coach did more than Jim Cook, whose 1995-to-2012 tenure produced three state titles, 14 regional crowns, nine sectional titles, and eight of the school’s nine state trophies. Cook went 612-212 with the Cougars after going 102-67-1 between 1986 and 1993 at Trenton Wesclin. His 714 career wins rank 28th in state history. In 1996, Cook guided a 36-3 squad to Breese Central’s first Class A title as Amy Heimann and 6-foot-1 Lea Beckemeyer were named to the all-tourney team. That squad’s six seniors finished with a four-year record of 99-8. Their final win was a 15-6, 15-7 decision over Mount Pulaski. Breese Central’s 1996 title was the fourth straight for the town of Breese (pop. 3,500), which had seen Breese Mater Dei prevail in Class A in 1993, 1994, and 1995. “It’s great for Clinton County,” Cook said after the 1996 final. “It shows what kind of volleyball we play down there.” Prior to the introduction of a four-class system in 2007, the best team in Breese could usually expect a lengthy post-season run as the two state powers took turns knocking each other off in the regional or sectional. The past 17 seasons the two schools have been in different classes five times. Breese Central’s other state titles came in Class A in 2005 (34-9) and 2A in 2007 (33-8). In 2005, it was an all-Cahokia Conference final when league runner-up Breese Central won, 25-12, 25-17, over league third-placer Columbia (conference champion Freeburg was in Class AA that season). Brittany Schrage led the victors with 10 kills to help negate the 11 kills of 6-2 Saint Louis University recruit Sammi McCloud of Columbia. Setting for the Cougars was 5-10 Southeast Missouri State-recruit Sarah Barth, who had 523 assists. “We were so on,” Cook told the media. “We tried to keep the pressure on them.” In 2007, Cook became the sixth coach in state history to win three titles when his Cougars downed Hampshire in three sets. The only remaining starter from 2005 was senior Lauren Budde, who shared the team lead in kills at 11 with classmate Jessica Hemann, the reigning state high jump champion. Both were part of a 36-7 state runner-up squad in 2006. “You expect the seniors to step up,” Cook said after the 2007 final. “All the seniors have talked about it all the time. It was time to just put up or shut up and we put up.” Cook’s other state trophy winning teams took second in 2010 (30-12) and third in 1999 (35-8), 2011 (33-9), and 2013 (36-6). Helping the Cougars make state trips in 2010 and 2011 was 6-0 Taylor Voss, who had 117 kills as a junior and 349 as a senior.

Read about how the Breese Central culture helped shape Kim Rahar's coaching career: Read here


#6
DOWNERS GROVE SOUTH HIGH SCHOOL
Regional Titles: 20
District Titles: 3
Sectional Titles: 14
State Final Trophies: 10
State Championship Appearances/Titles: 7/3
1992-AA: McAuley 2, Downers Grove South 1                       36-6
1993-AA: Lockport 2, Downers Grove South 0                       38-5
1994-AA: McAuley 2, Downers Grove South 0                       35-8
1996-AA: Downers Grove South 2, McAuley 1                       36-7
1997-AA: McAuley 2, Downers Grove South 1                       37-6
1999-AA: Downers Grove South 2, Althoff 0                           36-5
2002-AA: Downers Grove South 2, Barrington 0                    38-4
State Final Coaches: Judy Griesheim (1992, 1993), Denise Lazzeroni-Kavanaugh (1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002), Colleen Reagan (2004)
First Team All-State Players: 1982 – Kathy Griesheim; 1983 – Gwen Zemaitis; 1992 – Tracy Black, Terri Zemaitis; 1993 – Tracy Black, Terri Zemaitis; 1994 – Tracy Black, Tracey Marshall; 1995 – Tracey Marshall; 1996 – Liz Ortegel; 1997 – Chantel Reedus; 1998 – Chantel Reedus; 1999 – Michelle Chatman, Lindsey Filkins; 2000 – Shannon Parker, Michelle Chatman; 2001 – Meghan Macdonald, Shannon Parker; 2002 – Meghan Macdonald; 2003 – Jackie Simpson; 2004 – Jeannette Abbott.

DGS: It’s safe to say many high school volleyball programs would love to swap histories with Downers Grove South, whose glory days, alas, took place more than 20 years ago. The Mustangs’ light never burned brighter than during an 11-year stretch that ended in 2002 and brought three Class AA state titles and four runner-up efforts among nine trophies total. Downers Grove South’s ascension to state prominence began in 1992 when Judy Griesheim coached a 36-6 team to second in Class AA behind Chicago Mother McAuley. In 1993, Griesheim’s 38-5 group, led by all-staters Terri Zemaitis and Tracy Black, took second again behind Lockport. After Denise Lazzeroni-Kavanaugh became coach, her 35-8 squad of 1994 earned yet another runner-up finish behind McAuley. In 1995, Lazzeroni-Kavanaugh’s 39-4 crew dropped to third before winning the school’s first state title in 1996 by a score of 15-12, 10-15, 15-13 over McAuley to finish 36-7. The Mustangs’ go-to-girl in 1996 was senior Tracey Marshall, who was named Illinois Gatorade Player of the Year. She later led Illinois to two NCAA appearances as the first African-American scholarship player in Fighting Illini history. Marshall was ranked among the top 100 players in state history by Illprepvb.com along with fellow Mustangs Jeannette Abbott, Meghan Macdonald, and Jackie Simpson. Before placing second in 1997 at 37-6, Lazzeroni-Kavanaugh addressed the issue of high expectations. “Every year we have a different team and they don’t dwell really on the past,” she told The Daily Herald. “They really look toward the future.” The 36-5 state title team of 1999 included 6-0 Florida-recruit Michelle Chatman and 5-10 Illinois-Chicago-bound Lindsey Filkins, who helped beat Belleville Althoff in the final, 15-8, 15-5. The star setter of the program’s 39-3 state third-place squad in 2000 was Cincinnati-recruit Shannon Parker, who finished with 2,908 career assists, the 17th most in state history. Abbott, Macdonald, and Simpson all played for the 38-4 state championship team of 2002 when Macdonald was named the Illinois Gatorade Player of the Year. She later played at Illinois while Abbott went to Clemson and Simpson to Wisconsin.  Prior to the 2002 state tourney in which the Mustangs topped Barrington in the final (15-13, 15-11), Lazzeroni-Kavanaugh said, “Our goal every year is to shoot for a state championship.” After that match, Lazzeroni-Kavanaugh ended her nine-year Hall of Fame coaching career with a 324-51 record before becoming Downers Grove North’s athletic director. Downers Grove South’s 10th and final state trophy came in 2004 for fourth, capping a 37-6 season. Since then, the Mustangs have seen 15 seasons end in the regional, three in the sectional, and one during a pandemic.

Denise Kavanaugh took DGS from Cinderella to Unstoppable Force: Read here