Conard spells it out for Illini

Julia Conard says her last name often gets confused with "Conrad."

There's no confusion as to the West Chicago junior's collegiate future. It's spelled I-L-L-I-N-I.

Always her school of choice, Conard has made it official, committing verbally to the Illinois volleyball program. Conard joins Illinois as it is riding high, ranked No. 3 in the country after sweeping No. 2 Texas on its home court.

The Conard family are long-time Illinois fans. Julia's dad, Torrey, celebrated the decision by running through the Conard house with the Illinois flag and chanting the Illini motto.

"It's really exciting," Julia Conard said. "I never thought it would become reality. It was more of like my inner goal. It's always been one of the top schools I wanted to go to."

Conard is the latest DuPage County volleyball standout to join Illinois, whose No. 3 ranking is its highest in 22 years. Conard joins Colleen Ward (Naperville North), Laura DeBruler (Downers Grove North), Jessica Jendryk (Benet), Jackie Wolfe (Wheaton Warrenville South) and Courtney Abrahamovich (Naperville Central).

Conard has started for West Chicago since her freshman year. West Chicago was winless in volleyball the season prior to Conard's arrival but went 22-15 last year and is considered a favorite to win the DuPage Valley Conference this fall.

The 5-foot-9 outside plays for Club Fusion and in the summer of 2009 was named to the all-tournament team as the Fusion won the Junior Volleyball Directors Association National Championships.

"I've always been on the volleyball court, ever since I was little. I can thank my older sister for that," Conard said. "Probably my freshman and sophomore year I really made a commitment to it. I quit basketball and softball to focus on that one thing. Hopefully, I can go all the way with it."