Some questions about playoff volleyba
Is Cary-Grove the best girls volleyball team in IHSA history?
I actually heard a writer suggest that opinion. And it is hard to argue with a 51-match winning streak, second-longest ever, and No. 1 ranking in the country. Personally I find it hard to believe that any program will ever match the great Mother McAuley teams that won 135 straight from 1979-83. That number is downright ridiculous.
Volleyball fans can argue Cary-Grove's place among the state's best after the season. Here are five questions that will be answered the next two weeks.
Will DuPage County return to Normal?: Last year was the first time since 1978 that DuPage County was not represented by at least one school at the state volleyball tournament. Will 2010 bring a return to normalcy? The chances are good.
The winner of the Class 4A Bartlett sectional, where West Chicago and York are the top two seeds, looks like a good bet to advance to Redbird Arena. Whatever team gets out of the 4A Romeoville sectional likely Benet, Hinsdale Central or Hinsdale South will be tested by the winner of a tough downstate sectional that includes Quincy, Moline and Edwardsville. But Benet and both Hinsdales are playing their best volleyball late in the season, so you have to like their chances. And in 3A? Just like the last three years, if St. Francis can clear the Joliet Catholic hurdle it can book its hotel plans.
Can anyone beat Cary-Grove?: No one has solved the riddle yet. Marist is the best team I have seen in person this season, and Cary-Grove handled the RedHawks with ease at the Asics Challenge. The team probably best-equipped to knock off Cary-Grove is the team the Trojans beat in last year's 4A final Lyons Twp. The Lions have lost just once this season to Marist at the Rich East tournament and that was without standout junior setter Alexis Viliunas. With Viliunas back after missing the season's first 20 matches with a broken wrist, combined with Illinois-bound outside Jocelyn Birks, Lyons looked sharp in the season's last week in beating Hinsdale Central and Mother McAuley. Lyons and Marist figure to meet again in a 4A supersectional, the winner potentially getting a second crack at Cary.
Benet or the Hinsdales could get first shot at the defending champs in the state semifinals. It probably would require the perfect game for either to spring the upset. But as Benet can personally attest to (see the 2008 state final), on a given night anything can happen.
Will 3A be won at Rosary?: When Joliet Catholic escaped Wheaton last year with a barnburner of a sectional final win over St. Francis, the rest of the 3A tournament was a formality. Not so this year. Don't be confused, the winner of the Rosary sectional (likely Joliet Catholic or St. Francis) will be a strong contender at 3A state. This could be the fifth straight year the two hook up in the playoffs, after splitting four matches from 2006-2009. But Breese Mater Dei, ranked 30th nationally, is considered by many to be the odds-on favorite in 3A to win its fourth state championship since 1996. Also don't overlook Marian Central, who split two three-game matches with St. Francis this season.
Can West Chicago recapture its mojo?: No girls volleyball story in DuPage County this season was better than West Chicago, which won its first 26 matches after going 0-35 three years ago and won the DVC for the first time since 1979. But the Wildcats seemed to lose their swagger the last couple weeks. Dropping seven of your last nine matches will do that, but at the same time playing the likes of Joliet Catholic, Mother McAuley and Marist right before regionals lets a team know what weaknesses need addressed.
The Wildcats are seeded No. 1 at the Bartlett sectional, but to even win their first regional since 1997 they will have to beat St. Charles North. That could set up an intriguing sectional match with two-time champion St. Charles East next Tuesday. West Chicago has never won a sectional before. If the Wildcats are to do it, this is the year.
Who are the dark horses to watch?: It's hard to call a No. 3 sectional seed and a two-time state champion “dark horses,” but that's as close to one I can see in my crystal ball. Hinsdale South, which is No. 3 at the Romeoville sectional, has played as difficult a schedule as any team. It already has beaten Hinsdale Central once, also knocked off York, and with star outside Danielle Romeo and middles Melissa Nava and Morgan Howard the Hornets have the firepower to match Benet. At the Bartlett sectional you never can discount St. Charles East. Yes, the Saints will have to do it without setter Erienne Barry, lost with an ACL injury. Yes, York looks primed for a long playoff run with few if any glaring weaknesses. But you never can count out Jennie Kull's Saints this time of year.