After three straight seasons with 30 or more wins, Lyons girls volleyball team went 24-13 last year.
If first impressions are any indication, the Lions could be on the way back to hitting the 30-win mark again. They opened the season with a 23-25, 25-16, 25-23 victory over Lockport on Aug. 25 and a 25-20, 25-23 triumph over Lincoln-Way East.
Lockport has finished third in Class 4A the past two seasons and was ranked third in the state by Illprepvb.com.
“Oh, my goodness, I’m so proud of the way they came out so strong and competitive these first couple of matches,” Lyons coach Jill Bober said. “We always seem to open up against Lockport and it’s such a great test.”
Hitter Taylor Carrol, who is heading to Xavier, is in her fourth year on varsity while setter Colleen Chambers and libero Julia Ahrens are in their third years.
“They know how we run our offense and they know how we run defensively,” Bober said. “And they are teaching the new players the ropes.”
Three volleyball champs
Three area volleyball teams won weekend tournaments.
Marist won the 32-team Mizuno Crimson Classic hosted by Plainfield North at the Great Lakes Center in Aurora as Taylor Berg and Maggie Kurpeikis were named co-MVPs.
Chicago Christian won its own 12-team tournament for the first time since 2014 and Quinn Grevengoed was named MVP.
Mother McAuley won the Metea Valley tournament for the fifth straight year and, while no MVP was named, Peyton Heatherly, Nora Dunn and Chyna Dukes were named all-tournament.
Fire report
The Chicago Fire was knocked out of the Leagues Cup competition on Aug. 26 and tied Seattle on Aug. 29 in MLS play.
The Fire dropped a 2-1 decision to Monterrey in the League Cup quarterfinals in front of a SeatGeek Stadium crowd of 18,131. Philip Zinckernagel scored the lone goal.
They tied Seattle 2-2 on the road with Maren Haile-Selassie and Robert Lewandowski scoring goals.
The Fire (11-6-4) visits Toronto at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 5 and hosts Miami and Lionel Messi at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 9 at Soldier Field.
The Fire II (10-9-6) lost to Columbus 4-0 on Aug. 30 and face Crown Legacy at 4:30 p.m. on Sept. 4 in North Carolina.
Big-time Bolt rally
The Windy City Thunderbolts trailed Mississippi 7-1 through six innings on the road Aug. 27 in a Frontier League game.
But the Bolts put together the best inning in franchise history with a 14-run seventh and hung on to win 15-9.
Mount Carmel grad Tony Livermore had a two-run single in the outburst to put the Bolts up 8-7.
MLR draft
Major League Rugby, now down to five teams, held its college draft on Aug. 27. The defending champion Chicago Hounds picked Mount St. Mary’s Hayden McKay in the first round (fourth overall), St. Bonaventure’s Tyler White in the second round (ninth), and Walsh’s Fraser Leslie in the third round (14th).
Anthem dropped out of MLR in July. The league’s future is uncertain if it can’t produce a sixth team.