By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer It took a near perfect game — and a close play at the plate — to eliminate St. Laurence from its historic season. St. Laurence pitcher Sarah Klonowski and St. Ignatius hurler Ellie Giles were throwing zeroes through five innings in the Class 3A Rosemont Supersectional at the Parkway Bank…
Read MoreBy Jeff Vorva Staff Writer For the first time since 2014, no area boys volleyball advanced to the Elite Eight. In the past seven postseasons, either Marist, Sandburg, Brother Rice or St. Rita made it to the quarterfinals. This year, Marist was the last team standing, but dropped a wild 23-25, 25-22, 25-21 decision to…
Read MoreBy Steve Millar Correspondent With many players back from a team that finished third in the state in Class 3A last season, senior outfielder Angelo Luna knew the Vikings were ready to win many games this year. The recipe for success, according to Luna, was simple. “We just practice a lot, trust in that and…
Read MoreBy Steve Millar Correspondent Marist’s players are not happy with how the regular season went, but the playoffs present an opportunity for a fresh start and a chance to make it a special year. “We know we’re good enough to make a run,” junior shortstop/pitcher Cal Sefcik said. “We definitely had our ups and downs…
Read MoreBy Jeff Vorva Staff Writer Renee Chimino was like many people who thought Mary Pat Connolly was going to coach at Marist forever. But Connolly recently announced her retirement, and Chimino was hired to take her place last week. Chimino is a Marist graduate who played on Connolly’s best squad, the 2007-08 team that finished…
Read MoreBy Jeff Vorva Staff Writer It was as easy as 1-2-3. Actually, it was more like it was easy as 1A-2A-3A. Two area individuals and a relay team emerged from the IHSA state boys track meet over the weekend as champions — one in each classification. Luke Jelderks of Chicago Christian won the Class 1A…
Read MoreBy Randy Whalen Correspondent Michael Bos had just put down what was probably the biggest block of his high school career. It sent Brother Rice team into a frenzied celebration. The Crusaders hadn’t won the match, but they had moved to a third set against the top-ranked team in the state. Rice eventually fell short,…
Read MoreBy Steve Millar Correspondent De La Salle coach Carlos Nunez has seen his teams come up a bit short in the postseason repeatedly over the years. The Meteors had never won a regional championship in girls soccer. Until this year, that is. “I’ve been in every single one that we’ve lost in,” Nunez said. “We’ve…
Read MoreBy Jeff Vorva Staff writer The Sandburg baseball team has had more downs than ups this season. But the Eagles finished the regular season on a strong note with a run to second place at the Steven M. Bajenski Memorial Tournament, which wrapped up May 21 at Ozinga Field in Crestwood. To get to the…
Read MoreBy Jeff Vorva Staff Writer How good was the competition in the boys track Class 3A Lockport Sectional in the 3200 meter relay? Sandburg’s relay team of Brock Rice, Declan Tunney, Trent Anderson and Sean Marquardt ran a time of 7:42.42, which tied for the third-best time in the nation in 2022. And that was…
Read MorePrep News
Saint Xavier men’s volleyball finishes historic season in nation’s top 4
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent The Saint Xavier men’s volleyball team made history by advancing to the semifinals of the NAIA Men’s Volleyball National Championship. But the Cougars fell to eventual national champion Georgetown (Kentucky), 25-21, 25-23, 22-25, 21-25, 15-10, on May 3 at Alliant Energy PowerHouse in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Although there was no third-place…
St. Francis first baseman Nate Maliska earns conference POW honors
By Mike Walsh Correspondent The University of St. Francis sophomore first baseman Nate Maliska was chosen the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference’s Player of the Week in baseball for April 7. In helping the Saints to four wins that week, Maliska went 9-for-15 (.600) with eight RBI and seven runs scored. The St. Laurence graduate’s week…
Baseball | Marist claws way back to .500
By Xavier Sanchez Correspondent This season has thus far not been what Marist had expected, but the RedHawks came into this week at .500. Marist was 2-8 after 10 games this season, with three of those first eight losses coming via shutout. But the RedHawks turned things around with a stretch of eight wins in…
Red Stars fall to Spirit for third loss in past four matches
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent After enjoying one of their best starts in franchise history, the Chicago Red Stars have slid to the middle of the NWSL standings, with the latest setback being a 4-2 loss to Washington at SeatGeek Stadium. The Stars (3-3-1) entered this week having dropped three of their past four matches. Against…
Red Stars take aim at NWSL attendance record with Wrigley game
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent The Chicago Red Stars are thinking big when it comes to their upcoming game at Wrigley Field. The team is taking aim at the NWSL record for single-game attendance when it hosts Bay FC at the historic home of the Chicago Cubs on June 8. The record is held by Seattle,…
IHSA announces boys volleyball postseason assignments
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent Last year, the area sent a pair of boys volleyball teams to state as Lyons finished runner-up to champion Glenbard South and Brother Rice lost in the quarterfinals. This year, both could face each other in the sectional finals. The Lions picked up the second seed and the Crusaders the third…
Saint Xavier men’s volleyball finishes historic season in nation’s top 4
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent The Saint Xavier men’s volleyball team made history by advancing to the semifinals of the NAIA Men’s Volleyball National Championship. But the Cougars fell to eventual national champion Georgetown (Kentucky), 25-21, 25-23, 22-25, 21-25, 15-10, on May 3 at Alliant Energy PowerHouse in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Although there was no third-place…
St. Francis first baseman Nate Maliska earns conference POW honors
By Mike Walsh Correspondent The University of St. Francis sophomore first baseman Nate Maliska was chosen the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference’s Player of the Week in baseball for April 7. In helping the Saints to four wins that week, Maliska went 9-for-15 (.600) with eight RBI and seven runs scored. The St. Laurence graduate’s week…
Baseball | Marist claws way back to .500
By Xavier Sanchez Correspondent This season has thus far not been what Marist had expected, but the RedHawks came into this week at .500. Marist was 2-8 after 10 games this season, with three of those first eight losses coming via shutout. But the RedHawks turned things around with a stretch of eight wins in…
Red Stars fall to Spirit for third loss in past four matches
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent After enjoying one of their best starts in franchise history, the Chicago Red Stars have slid to the middle of the NWSL standings, with the latest setback being a 4-2 loss to Washington at SeatGeek Stadium. The Stars (3-3-1) entered this week having dropped three of their past four matches. Against…
Red Stars take aim at NWSL attendance record with Wrigley game
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent The Chicago Red Stars are thinking big when it comes to their upcoming game at Wrigley Field. The team is taking aim at the NWSL record for single-game attendance when it hosts Bay FC at the historic home of the Chicago Cubs on June 8. The record is held by Seattle,…
IHSA announces boys volleyball postseason assignments
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent Last year, the area sent a pair of boys volleyball teams to state as Lyons finished runner-up to champion Glenbard South and Brother Rice lost in the quarterfinals. This year, both could face each other in the sectional finals. The Lions picked up the second seed and the Crusaders the third…
Badminton players from Reavis and Lyons going to state
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent Reavis singles player Dania Amjad finished third in the Bolingbrook Sectional on May 2 to qualify for the IHSA state tournament. The Lyons doubles team of Simone Brown and Mia Graziano finished fourth in the York Sectional to qualify for state. The state finals are May 10-11 at DeKalb High School.
Brother Rice, Sandburg sending boats to bass fishing state tourney
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent Brother Rice is sending two boats to the IHSA state bass fishing tournament. The Crusaders had first- and third-place finishes at the Des Plaines River Big Basin Marina Sectional on May 2. Sandwiched in between the Brother Rice boats was a group from Sandburg in second place. The Crusaders’ No. 2…