#37
MENDOTA HIGH SCHOOL | MENDOTA
Regional Titles: 20
District Titles: 6
Sectional Titles: 13
State Final Trophies: 8
State Championship Appearances/Titles: 2/0
1981-A: Elmhurst IC 2, Mendota 0 27-2
1992-A: Wheaton St. Francis 2, Mendota 0 37-5
State Final Coaches: Renee Guenther (1975, 1976, 1980, 1981, 1982), Mary Stephenitch (1987, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993)
First Team All-State Players: none.
Mendota: A frequent qualifier in the early years of the state tournament, Mendota became long on accomplishments (with 11 Elite Eight berths), but short on titles (zero). The Lady Trojans made four state trips between 1975 and 1981. Mendota’s 27-2 squad of 1981 lost to Elmhurst Immaculate Conception in the Class A final, 15-12, 15-11. Leading coach Renee Guenther’s team was 5-foot-9 hitter Tracy Stroyan, a unanimous all-tournament team selection who went on to play at Illinois State University. “I’d give anything to have all Tracy Stroyans on my team,” said Guenther, who advanced four other teams to the state tourney including the 30-7 fourth-place squad of 1982. Guenther’s 19-2 state third-placer of 1975 suffered its only losses to LaSalle-Peru and Barrington. “We’re basically an offensive team,” she said. “Spiking and keeping the ball moving are the keys to our game. We use a 4-2 offense and we work well as a team. We like to do a lot of spiking with that four-girl front and that’s what wins it for us.” Another Mendota mentor taking five teams to state was Mary Stephenitch, whose most accomplished squad was the 37-5 Class A state runner-up crew of 1992. Those Lady Trojans lost to Wheaton St. Francis in the final, 17-15, 15-12. “They were able to do things at crunch time and we weren’t,” said Stephenitch, whose team got five kills from Beth Davis and four from 6-1 Jackee Doran in the final. “We weren’t quick enough to take care of their tips and dinks. They were able to capitalize on our mistakes.” Stephenitch also coached Mendota’s 33-4 third-place team of 1987, its 28-13 fourth-place squad of 1990, and its 32-11 fourth-place unit of 1993. Among the Lady Trojans’ biggest feats in 1987 was notching 33 blocks, the third most in state history, against eventual state runner-up Riverton. In the 1987 third-place match, the Lady Trojans dispatched Normal University High, 9-15, 15-8, 15-6. “We were too tentative at first,” Stephenitch told the media. “We finally got things together and started playing offense in the second game.” The last of Mendota 20 regional titles came in 2011.
#50
LANE TECH COLLEGE PREP | CHICAGO
Regional Titles: 4 *
Chicago Public League Titles: 10
State Final Qualifications/Trophies: 9/0
State Final Coaches: Ron Borck (1983, 1993, 1996, 1999, 2000), Armand Graupera (1986, 1987, 1989, 1990)
First Team All-State Players: 1986 – Diane Kruto
Lane Tech: Illinois high school girls were first permitted to play interscholastic volleyball matches in 1973. A year later, the Illinois High School Association saw 481 schools enter post-season play (compared to about 700 nowadays) which culminated in the first state tournament at Eastern Illinois University’s Lantz Gymnasium. Between 1974 and 2001, the champion of the 65-team Chicago Public League gained automatic entry into the IHSA state tournament quarterfinals (except in 1976 when the CPL champion entered at the Sweet 16 level). After a two-class system was introduced in 1977, the CPL qualifiers played in Class AA. The most frequent CPL entrant among the league’s 11 state qualifiers all-time was Chicago Lane Tech, which made nine state trips between 1983 and 2000. Tying for the second most state visits were Morgan Park, Payton, and Simeon with three each. Alas, no CPL team reached the semifinals until Payton placed fourth in Class 3A in 2008. The winningest of the Indians’ state entrants was the 1989 squad that finished 33-4 under Coach Armand Graupera. After winning the CPL title over Hyde Park that year to advance to the Elite Eight, Graupera told the media, “This is the best defensive team we’ve ever had.” That defense, however, could not prevent a 15-3, 12-15, 16-14 quarterfinal loss to LaGrange Lyons. The Lane Tech state qualifier with the highest winning percentage (at .935) was Graupera’s 29-2 squad of 1986. That team, which was extended to three sets only twice during the regular season, was led by 5-foot-8 Diane Kruto and 6-1 Kim Gervais. Graupera’s state-qualifying team of 1987, which featured four returning starters, overcame schedule disruptions caused by a 19-day teachers’ strike to finish 24-5-1. Lane Tech’s 11-year run of CPL titles from 1980 to 1990 began with Ron Borck as coach. The most successful of his five state-qualifying teams were the 23-10 squad of 1999 and the 23-12 unit of 2000. Borck, who coached every sport at Lane Tech except football during a 38-year teaching career, retired after the 2000 season with a 322-113-9 record over 16 years that spanned two stints as volleyball coach.
* Chicago Public Schools did not compete for IHSA Regionals or Sectionals until 2003.
#49
JOHN HERSEY HIGH SCHOOL | ARLINGTON HEIGHTS
Regional Titles: 29
District Titles: 1
Sectional Titles: 8
State Final Trophies: 3
State Championship Appearances/Titles: 1/0
1988-AA: Jacksonville 2, Hersey 0 (35-8)
State Final Coach: Nancy (Rimdzius) Lill (1988, 1993, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2004)
First Team All-State Players: 1988 – Amy Peistrup; 1989 – Karlin Sander; 1990 – Kim Nieman; 1994 – Karen Stewart; 1995 – Abbie Willenborg; 2000 – Janet Goreham; 2005 – Megan Fesl; 2006 – Annie Fesl; 2012 – Abby Fesl; 2019 – Kati Kaburov.
Hersey: Roughly 700 schools enter the IHSA state series each year. A shared attribute among many top teams is coaching continuity. Hersey got that and more from Nancy Lill, who finished with a 1,045-317-5 record to rank fourth in wins in state history. During the Hall of Famer’s 1988-to-2021 tenure at Hersey, she won 27 regionals, eight sectionals, and six super-sectionals. Lill’s best state showing came in 1988. That 35-8 squad lost to Jacksonville in the Class AA final, 19-17, 15-7. Hersey’s star in 1988 was 5-foot-10 Amy Peistrup, who had 368 kills and 236 assists during the regular season. “Amy may be the most efficient player in the state,” her coach said. “Of all the all-staters, in four years I think Amy will go the farthest. She’ll be a great setter in college.” That prediction came true as Peistrup became an All-American at North Carolina and later played professional beach volleyball. Hersey’s second state trophy was for third in 1993. That 35-6-1 squad, which had no seniors, included 5-11 Missouri-recruit Renee Rosinski. The 1994 Huskies, who went 37-4, returned to the Elite Eight where they were eliminated in the quarterfinals by eventual champion Chicago Mother McAuley, 15-7, 16-14. “I don’t think we played our best match,” Lill told the media. “The mental errors killed us.” Hersey’s last state trophy – for fourth in 1997 – capped a 21-20-1 season that set a state record for most losses by a Final Four qualifier. Hersey’s standouts that year included 5-8 Laurie Anderson, who hit a modest .200 during the season, but caught fire in the post-season, hitting .313. Among the stars in 1999 was Jessica Brizzolara, who had over 800 assists. “She is one of the top setters in the state,” Lill said. In 2000, 6-0 DePaul-recruit Janet Goreham finished with a then school-record 876 career kills. Hersey’s most recent state trip – and last sectional title – came in 2004 when it finished 32-8. That squad included 6-1 junior Megan Fesl, who went on to tally a school-record 1,141 career kills before playing at Notre Dame. Fesl’s sisters, Abby and Annie, also starred at Hersey. Annie Fesl, a Cincinnati recruit, finished her prep career in 2006 with a school-record 2,465 assists. In 2012, Abby Fesl, who later played at North Florida and Ohio State, upped that assist record to 2,568. Hersey’s star in 2019 was 5-11 Kati Kaburov, who extended the school record for career kills to 1,381 before playing at Boston College and Lehigh.
#48
NEW TRIER HIGH SCHOOL | WINNETKA