NORMAL - It took a lot out of the Benet girls volleyball team on Friday night to take out its arch-nemesis in the IHSA state semifinals. But the Redwings, who swept Marist, the No. 7-ranked team in the nation, were determined not to run out of gas o...

Check out semifinal action from the Class 4A girls volleyball state tournament in Normal. Fremd battled Wheaton Warrenville South and Benet took on Marist.

NORMAL - Cruising, cruising, cruising along. That's what the Benet girls volleyball team did for its first 34 games this fall. All wins. And all but four of the wins came in straight sets. But then the Redwings, in their final game of the regular se...

NORMAL - There was doubt. And a whole lot of rough spots. But that was four years ago. And a lot has changed since then. Like back then, the Wheaton Warrenville South girls volleyball team was young, inexperienced and deep in the shadows of the pere...

To say Rian Baker has been dreaming her entire life about volleyball glory isn't an exaggeration. “Well, my Mom (Jen) has told me that on the third day of me being alive, I was in a Benet volleyball gym,” Baker said with a laugh. “I grew up with vol...

Class 4A state semifinal Who: Fremd (36-4) vs. Wheaton Warrenville South (32-8) Where and when: Illinois State's Redbird Arena, Friday, 7 p.m. How they got here: WWS defeated Leyden 25-10, 25-10, Maine South 25-19, 25-13, Downers Grove South 25-9, ...

Following Huntley's victory over St. Charles East last week to win the Class 4A Dundee-Crown sectional, Saints coach Jennie Kull offered an opinion of Red Raiders and Seton Hall-bound setter Taylor Jakubowski that pretty much every opposing coach sh...

No. 4 Rolling Meadows (11-0) at No. 22 Wheaton-Warrenville South When: Saturday, 1 p.m. Playoffs: Rolling Meadows beat Lincoln Park 33-12 and Prospect 26-14; Wheaton Warrenville South beat Machesney Park Harlem 50-23 and Downers Grove North 28-7. Ad...

Gigi Barr, York The junior outside hitter improved on last year's solid season to earn first-team honors again for a Dukes team that went 29-9 and took in the WSC Silver. She reached 1,000 varsity kills last month and finished the year with 478. Ba...

Class 7A (bracket order) No. 5 Willowbrook (10-1) at No. 20 Lake Zurich (8-3) Game time: 1 p.m. Saturday. Last week: Willowbrook 33, No. 12 Yorkville 24; Lake Zurich 14, No. 4 Hersey 7. Outlook: A critical moment for Willowbrook, which in its f...