Herald-News Girls Volleyball Notebook: SouthWest Suburban, Southwest Prairie, I-8 races coming down to the wire

With the regular season coming to an end, several conference championships are up in the air. Joliet area teams are in the running for many of them.

The SouthWest Suburban Conference has an interesting race, as Lockport, Lincoln-Way East and Bolingbrook all are gunning for the top spot. Bolingbrook, which is 22-1 since starting the season 1-2, currently holds the top spot with a 7-0 record in conference matches, while Lincoln-Way East is 6-0 and Lockport 6-1. Lockport visits Lincoln-Way East on Thursday, while Bolingbrook hosts the Griffins next Tuesday.

In the Southwest Prairie Conference, Oswego East leads the league with an 8-0 record, while Plainfield North and Joliet West are each 7-1. Joliet West currently is riding an 11-match winning streak as well.

In the ultra-competitive East Suburban Catholic Conference, Joliet Catholic Academy is fifth with a 2-3 conference mark, tied with Marian Catholic. Marist (5-0) leads the league, followed by Benet Academy (3-1) and Nazareth Academy (3-2).

Morris is tied with Kaneland in the Interstate 8 with identical 10-1 records, but Kaneland defeated Morris head-to-head earlier this season to hold the edge. The two teams play Thursday night at Kaneland in a match likely to decide the conference champ, as third-place Rochelle holds a 7-4 league mark.

Lemont has an 11-0 record to hold the top spot in the South Suburban Conference, but by a scant margin as Reavis is 11-1.

Coal City is riding a six-match winning streak and leads the Illinois Central Eight with an 11-1 conference record. Peotone (7-4) is third, Reed-Custer (7-5) fourth and Wilmington (4-7) fifth.

In the Tri-County Conference, Seneca has a 5-2 record good for third place behind Ottawa Marquette (6-0) and Streator Woodland (6-1).

Postseason outlook

The seeds and pairings for the upcoming IHSA postseason have been announced.

In Class 4A, Lockport and Plainfield North will host sectionals.

Feeding into the Lockport Sectional are regionals at Lincoln-Way West, Homewood-Flossmoor, Andrew and Rich Township.

In the Lincoln-Way West Regional, second-seeded Bolingbrook will open play at 6 p.m. Oct. 25 against No. 15 T. F. South, with No. 7 Lincoln-Way West taking on No. 11 Romeoville at 7 p.m. The title match will be at 6 p.m. Oct. 27.

At Homewood-Flossmoor, play starts at 6 p.m. Oct. 24 with a match between No. 16 Eisenhower and No. 17 Joliet Central. On Tuesday, the Monday winner will play top-seeded Lincoln-Way East at 6 p.m., and No. 8 H-F will play Shepard at 7. The title match is Thursday at 7 p.m.

At Andrew, No. 3 Lockport plays No. 13 Bloom Township at 5:30 on Tuesday, Oct. 25, with No. 6 Joliet West taking on Andrew at 6:30. The title match is Thursday at 6.

At Rich Township, No. 4 Lincoln-Way Central plays Tuesday, Oct. 25 against No. 14 Rich Township at 6 p.m., with No. 5 Sandburg taking on No. 12 Thornwood at 7. The title match is Thursday at 6.

The winners of the H-F and Rich Township Regionals will play in the sectional semifinals Monday, Oct. 31 at 6 p.m., with the winners of the Lincoln-Way West and Andrew Regionals playing at 7. The title match will be Wednesday, Nov. 2 at 6 p.m., with the winner moving on to the Eisenhower Super-Sectional on Friday, Nov. 4 against the winner of the Lyons Township Sectional.

Feeding into the Plainfield North Sectional are regionals at Naperville North, Plainfield South, Neuqua Valley and Geneva.

At Naperville North, No. 3 Naperville North plays No. 13 Plainfield Central on Tuedsay, Oct. 25 at 6 p.m., with No. 5 Plainfield North taking on No. 10 Oswego at 7. The title match is Thursday at 6.

At Plainfield South, No. 2 Metea Valley plays No. 15 West Aurora on Tuesday, Oct. 25 at 6, with No. 7 Plainfield South playing No. 9 Naperville Central at 7. The title match is Thursday at 6.

At Geneva, No. 16 Plainfield East plays No. 17 East Aurora on Monday, Oct. 24 at 6, with the winner to take on No. 1 Benet Academy on Tuesday at 6. No. 8 Batavia plays No. 12 Geneva Tuesday at 7, with the title match Thursday at 6.

At the Plainfield North Sectional, the winners of the Geneva and Neuqua Valley Regionals will play Monday, Oct. 31 at 6, with the winners of the Plainfield South and Naperville North Regionals playing at 7. The title match is Wednesday, Nov. 2 at 6, with the winner advancing to play in the Moline Super-Sectional on Friday, No. 4 against the winner of the Normal Community Sectional.

Minooka is in the Normal Community Sectional and will begin play Tuesday, Oct. 25 in the Bradley-Bourbonnais Regional against the hosts at 6. The winner of that match will take on Moline for the title Thursday at 6.

In Class 3A, Joliet Catholic Academy will host a sectional, with regionals at Morris, Tinley Park, Hillcrest and Kankakee feeding into it.

At Morris, No. 3 Morris will take on No. 14 Thornton on Tuesday, Oct. 25 at 6 p.m., with No. 5 Marian Catholic taking on Hinsdale South at 7. The title match is Thursday at 6.

At Tinley Park, No. 16 Chicago Agricultural Science will play No. 18 Thornridge on Monday, Oct. 24, with the winner taking on top-seeded Lemont on Tuesday at 6. No. 8 Tinley Park plays No. 9 Oak Forest on Tuesday at 7, with the Tuesday winners meeting in Thursday’s 6 p.m. title match.

At Hillcrest, No. 15 T. F. North plays No. 17 Hillcrest on Monday at 6, with the winner going against No. 2 JCA on Tuesday at 6. No. 7 Richards plays No. 11 Crete-Monee on Tuesday at 7, with the two Tuesday winners playing Thursday at 6 for the title.

At Kankakee, No. 4 Providence Catholic will play No. 13 Plano on Tuesday, Oct. 25 at 6 p.m., with No. 6 Kankakee taking on Bremen at 7. The title match is Thursday at 6.

At the JCA Sectional, the winners of the Tinley Park and Kankakee Regionals will play Monday, Oct. 31 at 6, with the winners of the Hillcrest and Morris Regionals playing at 7. The title match will be Wednesday, Nov. 2 at 6, with the winner advancing to Friday’s Hinsdale South Super-Sectional for a 6 p.m. match against the winner of the St. Laurence Sectional.

In Class 2A, all of the Joliet area teams will be in the Seneca Regional, which feeds into the Prairie Central Sectional. Other regionals in the sectional are at Herscher, Tremont and Fieldcrest.

At Seneca, No. 7 Reed-Custer will play No. 8 Peotone on Monday, Oct. 24 at 6 p.m., with the winner taking on No. 1 Coal City on Tuesday at 6. Also on Monday, No. 6 Wilmington plays No. 10 Pontiac at 7 p.m., with the winner playing No. 4 Seneca on Tuesday at 7. The Tuesday winners will play in Thursday’s title match at 6.