Girls Volleyball: 5 storylines to watch in the Daily Chronicle area for the 2024 season

With practices starting Monday, we take a look at five storylines that will define the 2024 season in the Daily Chronicle coverage area.

Can Sycamore catch Kaneland in the I-8?

Sycamore broke through with its first regional championship in eight years last season. The Spartans finished 22-15 and 7-3 in the Interstate 8.

Kaneland also reached the sectional round for the sixth straight postseason, went 8-2 in the I-8 and 27-11 overall.

But both teams will have new looks this season. Sycamore lost 10 seniors. Kaneland will only have four seniors on its roster.

While La Salle-Peru and Ottawa should also be in the mix for the Interstate 8 Conference title, it will be interesting how the two northern rivals in the conference fare.

How will new coaches affect Genoa-Kingston and DeKalb?

DeKalb didn’t have to look far to find a new head volleyball coach, tapping Genoa-Kingston head coach Keith Foster to lead the program.

To fill the hole, the Cogs named Taylor Spellman, a 2020 graduate of former Big Northern Conference rival Dixon, as head coach.

Foster guided the Cogs to a state title in 2022 and a sectional berth last year. At DeKalb, he’ll look to build a program that went 6-22-1 last year, has lost 21 straight DuPage Valley Conference matches and hasn’t had a winning season since 2021.

For Spellman, the Cogs lost the team’s core, but return Mia Wise and Brooklyn Ristau. Both were on the state championship roster as sophomores.

Hiawatha looking to build off strong season

The Hawks reached a regional final last year, and according to IHSA they last won a regional in 1999. They finished last year 19-17 and went 6-4 in the Little 10 to take fifth.

According to the IHSA, the Hawks last had a winning record in 1999 and their record last year was the most wins since a 25-5-1 season in 1994.

Delaney Wood was at the center of the Hawks’ success last year, making the all-conference team. She’s back for her junior campaign.

Will it be feast or famine again in the playoffs?

Last year, G-K, Sycamore and Kaneland all won regionals. But Hinckley-Big Rock, Indian Creek and Hiawatha all had to start the postseason with play-in matches. Indian Creek and DeKalb, which started in a semifinal, were one-and-done in the postseason.

One of the intriguing aspects of the new season will be how many teams can expand their postseason runs. Can DeKalb get back to a regional final as it did in 2022? Indian Creek and Hinckley-Big Rock haven’t made a regional final since before the pandemic.

Sycamore and Kaneland both had sectional runs last year, but were in different supersectionals, a rarity for teams that often end up in the same regional. Will they be able to avoid each other in the postseason again, potentially lengthening their postseason?

Who is the best player in the area?

A strong case can be made that the three best players in the area last year were on the G-K roster: two-time Daily Chronicle Player of the Year Alayna Pierce and all-area first-teamers Alivia Keegan and Hannah Langton. All are moving on to NCAA Division I programs.

Only one all-area first-team selection wasn’t a senior, Hinckley-Big Rock setter Anna Herrmann, now a junior. And there were only three nonseniors on the second-team: Wise, Sycamore’s Ava Carpenter and Indian Creek’s Isabella Turner.

Carpenter, now a senior, and Kaneland’s Audrey Peters and Morgan Beam are ready for big seasons, according to their coaches.

Camryn Hilliard also was a big presence on the front line for the Barbs last year and is back for her junior year.