3A Isn't A Step Down In Competition Or Talent

To start with I want to congratulate the three teams that saw their season come to an end. First was the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy. They were 13-20 coming into the game and while they may have lost, they are only losing four seniors from this team. That means that a lot of experience is coming back and that experience will translate to improved communication on the court. They gave tremendous effort to try and advance in the playoffs but happened to come up a bit short. Michaela Edgars will return for her senior season and she looks poised to help this team go a lot further next year. As this was only her second year ever playing the sport, you can imagine what another offseason will do for her skills. IMSA showed great sportsmanship and positive attitudes as they never hung their heads. I want to wish them all the best of luck in the future!

Next we had Riverside/Brookfield losing in the second match to Queen of Peace. The Bulldogs came out strong in the first game. They used their height advantage to help them at the net and make it a very competitive first set. I remember turning to Mighty Matt after the first set and mentioning how surprised I was that both of these teams would meet in the first round. As records can clearly be deceiving, especially in the playoffs. The second set wasn't so competitive, but it was not to the fault of the Bulldogs. Queen of Peace came out with 15 points in a row (holding serve the entire time) and part of it was a controversial call that was reversed to go in favor of the Pride of Queen of Peace. That play ended up changing the momentum and the Bulldogs were never able to recover. Riverside/Brookfield can hold their heads high as they never quit. They pulled off a few points at the end to show that they weren't going quietly. This was a young team that will have a bright future and I want to wish them the best of luck next season!

The last team that had their season come to an end before our eyes (that pun was for Dr. Pete and Mighty Matt) was Elmwood Park. They had a bittersweet night. They won the first match of the night against IMSA but then fell in the last match of the night to the host team St. Francis. Elmwood Park came into the night at 8-23 and were the clear underdog in the building. Coach Maggie White was confident that her team was going to put forth their best effort and boy was she right! The Tigers were diving all over the court in both matches trying to extend their season. They can be proud to know that they won a playoff game and send their seniors out with that accomplishment. With only four juniors on the team, this playoff win was huge for their program. It gives the returning players confidence and shows the sophomores that they have the ability to win playoff games. Best of luck to the Tigers in the future!

And then we have the two teams that advance to face one another on Saturday! Queen of Peace and St. Francis. Before I break down each team, I want to congratulate each of them on a win. While they were supposed to win, they each won convincingly and did what they were supposed to do. That doesn't always happen in the playoffs, so props to both teams being prepared and focused on tonight's games. Both teams are polar opposites. Queen of Peace is an undersized, speedy, agile, and finesse team while St. Francis is a powerful, aggressive, and physical team. St. Francis brings the thunder and has two great front line players in Meg Vonderhaar and Daiva White. They will continue to attack the net and bring power hits to try and put Queen of Peace away. Queen of Peace knows that they are undersized and use it to their advantage. They hit to the open spot on the court and use that directional hitting to beat taller opponents. This match up will come down to which team can trust in their game plan the most and execute it. Throw the records and history out, the team that wants it more on Saturday will win. While we won't be able to cover this game, it should be a dandy to watch! We wish both of teams best of luck and hope to see one of them downstate!

Dr. Pete got another shirt!! This time from St. Francis so shout out to Theresa Katarzynski!!! And of course another mention and shout out to Daiva White for throwing Mighty Matt the eyeball! We now have an eye on the State Title and hope to see some familiar faces down there with us!

The teams we will see on Saturday will have a lot of pressure to bring their A game as we saw two very talented teams bring theirs tonight! We will be at Argo to see Lyons, one of the top teams in the nation! We'll follow that up by seeing the only team to beat them this year in Marist at Marist! It should be one great day of volleyball!

Aloha to Mighty Matt, and we'll see you for the prime time games in a week!

Remember to check out SportsTownChicago.com to download all the podcasts and to see video highlights from all of the games we cover!

A-Lo