Postseason assignments draw Langanis' ire
The twists and turns of the new IHSA girls volleyball postseason were revealed Wednesday when the state released assignments for the state's first four-class state tournament series.
In the Fox Valley area, the twists and turns are many, and they irritated one area coach to no end when she learned of her team's postseason route Wednesday night.
In a new twist this year, the IHSA decided if your sectional complex, or any team in it, was outside the seven-county Chicago Metropolitan area, then assignments would be made to regionals and regional seeding will be done. If the sectional complex and all the schools in it lie within the seven-county area, the old sectional complex with pre-determined regional hosts still applies.
The new system may have worked against Cary-Grove in Class 4A. While the Trojans won't have to see CL Central in the postseason, they were assigned to the Jacobs regional along with the host Golden Eagles, Dundee-Crown and Crystal Lake South, all quality programs.
"What the heck is that," asked Cary-Grove coach Patty Langanis. "What's the point in having a good season and working hard for a good seed? This is ridiculous."
Cary-Grove earned its first win over perennial power Prairie Ridge earlier this week, a win Langanis now says won't mean as much.
"That win over Prairie Ridge means nothing now," she said. "It's not that we can't beat South or any other team in the regional but how do you explain this to your kids? We as coaches had no idea (the IHSA) was going to do this and when we asked at the rules meeting, we weren't told anything.
"This is a respect issue. Do you think they'll do this in boys basketball? Sometimes I think all they think about with girls volleyball is that we're out there doing our hair and our nails. This is really disappointing."
The Jacobs regional, which will be played Saturday, Oct. 27, feeds into the CL South sectional, and even though McHenry County is considered one of the seven Chicago metro area counties, there are Rockford schools in the CLS sectional, so the regionals are pre-assigned. Prairie Ridge will also host a regional that includes Grant, McHenry and Woodstock. The other two regionals are in Rockford.
Burlington Central, which is always on the east-west cusp to the IHSA's way of thinking, was sent west for the postseason and is assigned to the four-team Class 3A Huntley regional, which will be played in its entirety on Saturday, Oct. 27. Also at Huntley will be the host Red Raiders, Kaneland and a very tough Sycamore team. The Huntley regional is a part of the Freeport sectional complex.
"Well, at least we know now," said BC coach Marv Leavitt, who breathed a sign of relief when he learned his squad had avoided being matched up with state powers Wheaton St. Francis or Crystal Lake Central.
"I guess it's the lesser of two evils maybe. I was pretty sure we'd be going against Sycamore, I just wasn't sure if it would be in the regional or sectional. But Huntley's decent too and they have the regional at their place."
The Freeport sectional champ then travels to Galesburg for a supersectional against the Metamora sectional champion.
The other area teams in Class 4A were assigned to the Lake Park sectional, where Addison Trail, Bartlett, Glenbard West and Wheaton North are the regional hosts.
In Class 2A, as expected, Hampshire and St. Edward were assigned to the same sectional (Byron) and will also be in the same 10-team sub-sectional, where Aurora Christian and North Boone will be the regional hosts. Hampshire will be the supersectional host, one that will include the winner of the Luther North sectional.
In Class 1A, Westminster Christian was assigned to the Serena sectional and will play its regional at either Immaculate Conception or North Shore Country Day.