With October will come some exciting times in local sports
When the calendar turns to October on Monday, the Cubs still playing baseball won't be the only thing piquing the interest of sports-minded people around the Fox Valley.
October is one of the more fun months in high school sports, just because of the drama and excitement that lead up to the postseason.
With girls volleyball now playing four classes instead of two, and cross country and boys golf going to three classes, the excitement will surely increase in comparison to recent years.
Whether you agree with the IHSA's class expansion or not, the fact remains it does bring a new twist to the postseason in some sports and it will be interesting to see how it all plays out.
One sport that remains the same in terms of number of classes is football and, just like last year, it was Jacobs' upset of Crystal Lake South Friday night that got us directing our eyes on the final three weeks of the football season and all the possible playoff teams we might have around the area, and the big games that remain to decide conference champions and playoff qualifiers.
So this week, as I've done every year since football was still a five-class sport, I'll get the crystal ball out of the attic and see if I can't take a crack at figuring out who will be in, who will be out, who might play who and all else football-related and present it in Sports Extra on Friday.
I will say this -- while there are some intriguing and important matchups coming up in Week 7, Weeks 8 and 9 promise to be barnburners. Elgjn-Larkin, CL South vs. Cary-Grove, CL South-McHenry, Burlington Central-Hampshire, Burlington-Harvard. And that's not to mention the dogfight that's going to go on the next three weeks between Marian Central, Driscoll and Montini for Suburban Catholic Conference supremacy.
Volley For the Cure: St. Edward hosts Marian Central in girls volleyball action Monday night but the night will mean much more than just volleyball.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and Volley for the Cure was created as a way to honor and celebrate the heroic fight against breast cancer. This event is dedicated to all the men and women who have been touched by breast cancer in hopes that one day the devastating disease will be cured.
The purpose of Monday's event is raise awareness of the disease among high school students, staff and community, and to raise funds for the Susan G. Kohnen Foundation. Before, during and after the volleyball match there will be a raffle of donated items, souvenirs will be thrown into the stands and there will be a split-the-pot raffle.
Pink "Volley For the Cure: 800 teams vs. Breast Cancer" T-shirts will be sold for $7.
Having lost both my mother and stepmother to breast cancer, I would encourage everyone who has some time free around 6:30 Monday night to stop at St. Edward and contribute to a wonderful cause -- and see some good girls volleyball action a swell. Coach Jaime Walton's Green Wave are always exciting to watch.
For further information, call St. Edward High School at (847) 741-7536 or e-mail Walton at jlwalton4@aol.com.
Busy week: The fall postseason actually kicks off this week with golf regionals. Fox Valley schools will play in eight different boys regionals on Tuesday while the girls have been assigned to five different regionals on Wednesday. Locally, Prairie Isle in Crystal Lake and St. Andrews in West Chicago host the bulk of the area's boys teams with St. Andrews and The Highlands of Elgin hosting the local girls regionals.
Also, girls volleyball seeding meetings are set for Wednesday night with pairings to be released Friday. Stay tuned for what is sure to be an interesting setup for the postseason.