IHSA releases pairings for new 4-class state series

The 4-class world of girls volleyball started taking some shape Friday when the IHSA released pairings for the upcoming postseason.

The most notable change in the postseason is that all regional and sectional semifinals and finals will be played on the same day. That means many regionals, and all sectionals, will be played on just one day instead of the 2-4 nights of past years.

The Daily Herald's Fox Valley area has schools in each of the four classes. Class 1A and Class 2A regional semifinals and finals will be played Thursday, Oct. 25 while the Class 3A and Class 4A regionals will be Saturday, Oct. 27.

Here's a brief overview of where the IHSA sent area schools.

Class 4A: Winners from the Crystal Lake South sectional and the Lake Park sectional will meet in the DeKalb supersectional. The South and Lake Park complexes host all area 4A teams. Prairie Ridge and Jacobs each host regionals in the South sectional. At Jacobs, top-seeded South will play No. 4 Jacobs, followed by No. 2 Cary-Grove vs. No. 3 Dundee-Crown, followed by the title game. At PR, top-seed Woodstock meets Grant and No. 2 Prairie Ridge takes on McHenry in the semifinals.

In the Lake Park sectional, No. 18 seed Larkin will open with a play-in game at No. 15 Wheaton North on Oct. 24. No. 2 St. Charles North is the top seed at the Wheaton North regional. Also in a play-in game of the Glenbard West regional, No. 13 South Elgin will host No. 19 Elgin on Oc t. 24. No. 3 St. Charles East is the top seed at Glenbard West. Bartlett will host a regional that includes top-seed Wheaton Warrenville South, a team many feel can win the Class 4A state title. No. 8 Bartlett plays No. 9 Batavia in one semifinal with the winner likely meeting WWS for the title.

Class 3A: Burlington Central and Huntley will meet each other in one semifinal of the Huntley regional. BC is the No. 2 seed. Top-seeded Sycamore plays Kaneland in the other semi. The Huntley regional is part of the Freeport sectional, which feeds to the Galesburg supersectional.

Class 2A:: Hampshire and St. Edward could meet for a sectional championship. The Whip-Purs are the top seed in the Aurora Christian regional while St. Edward, the No. 3 seed, is in the North Boone regional. AC and North Boone winners wouldn't meet until the Byron sectional title match. Rockford Christian Life is the No. 2 seed and in the North Boone regional with St. Edward.

Class 1A: Westminster Christian, a No. 3 seed, is in the North Shore Country Day regional, where Morgan Park Academy is the No. 2 seed. Fox Valley Lutheran is a No. 7 seed and has a play-in game at No. 6 Illinois Lutheran in Crete as part of the Immaculate Conception regional. Regional winners here advance to the Serena sectional.