The blind drawing that determines the state final pairings in bracketed team sports was held at the IHSA Office on Monday, September 20, starting at approximately 1 p.m. This drawing covered the fall sports of boys soccer and girls volleyball. Boys football, which operates under a different system, will be paired on Football Pairings Night, October 23.
Traditionally, the pairings are made by ordering the sites that feed into the state finals in alphabetical order and numbering them from 1 to 4. Then the numbered peas are drawn from a bottle. The number on the first pea drawn represents the site whose winner will occupy the first position on the bracket, and so on.
Boys Class 1A Soccer
Starting lineup:
Pea #1 represents winner of Edwardsville (Metro-East Lutheran) Sectional
Pea #2 represents winner of Hinckley (H.-Big Rock) Sectional
Pea #3 represents winner of TBA Sectional (central Illinois)
Pea #4 represents winner of TBA Sectional (Chicago area)
Bracket drawing:
Semifinal bracket position #1: pea #4, TBA Sectional (Chicago area)
Semifinal bracket position #2: pea #2, Hinckley (H.-Big Rock) Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #3: pea #1, Edwardsville (Metro-East Lutheran) Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #4: pea #3, TBA Sectional (central Illinois)
Boys Class 2A Soccer
Starting lineup:
Pea #1 represents winner of Barrington Super-Sectional
Pea #2 represents winner of New Lenox (Lincoln-Way West) Super-Sectional
Pea #3 represents winner of Springfield (UIS) Super-Sectional
Pea #4 represents winner of TBA Super-Sectional (Chicago, near north and west suburbs)
Bracket drawing:
Semifinal bracket position #1: pea #4, TBA Super-Sectional (Chicago, near north and west suburbs)
Semifinal bracket position #2: pea #1, Barrington Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #3: pea #2, New Lenox (Lincoln-Way West) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #4: pea #3, Springfield (UIS) Super-Sectional
Boys Class 3A Soccer
Starting lineup:
Pea #1 represents winner of Barrington Super-Sectional
Pea #2 represents winner of Chicago (Loyola U.) Super-Sectional
Pea #3 represents winner of Lisle (Benedictine U.) Super-Sectional
Pea #4 represents winner of TBA Super-Sectional (far south suburbs and downstate)
Bracket drawing:
Semifinal bracket position #1: pea #1, Barrington Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #2: pea #4, TBA Super-Sectional (far south suburbs and downstate)
Semifinal bracket position #3: pea #2, Chicago (Loyola U.) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #4: pea #3, Lisle (Benedictine U.) Super-Sectional
Girls Class 1A Volleyball
Starting lineup:
Pea #1 represents winner of Bridgeport (Red Hill) Super-Sectional
Pea #2 represents winner of Glasford (Illini Bluffs) Super-Sectional
Pea #3 represents winner of Mt. Pulaski Super-Sectional
Pea #4 represents winner of Pecatonica Super-Sectional
Bracket drawing:
Semifinal bracket position #1: pea #4, Pecatonica Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #2: pea #3, Mt. Pulaski Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #3: pea #2, Glasford (Illini Bluffs) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #4: pea #1, Bridgeport (Red Hill) Super-Sectional
Girls Class 2A Volleyball
Starting lineup:
Pea #1 represents winner of Mendota Super-Sectional
Pea #2 represents winner of Nashville Super-Sectional
Pea #3 represents winner of Seneca Super-Sectional
Pea #4 represents winner of Tolono (Unity) Super-Sectional
Bracket drawing:
Semifinal bracket position #1: pea #1, Mendota Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #2: pea #2, Nashville Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #3: pea #4, Tolono (Unity) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #4: pea #3, Seneca Super-Sectional
Girls Class 3A Volleyball
Starting lineup:
Pea #1 represents winner of Calumet City (Thornton Fractional North) Super-Sectional
Pea #2 represents winner of Hampshire Super-Sectional
Pea #3 represents winner of Mt. Zion Super-Sectional
Pea #4 represents winner of Ottawa (Twp.) Super-Sectional
Bracket drawing:
Semifinal bracket position #1: pea #1, Calumet City (Thornton Fractional North) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #2: pea #3, Mt. Zion Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #3: pea #4, Ottawa (Twp.) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #4: pea #2, Hampshire Super-Sectional
Girls Class 4A Volleyball
Starting lineup:
Pea #1 represents winner of Barrington Super-Sectional
Pea #2 represents winner of Lansing (Thornton Fractional South) Super-Sectional
Pea #3 represents winner of Normal (Community West) Super-Sectional
Pea #4 represents winner of Schaumburg Super-Sectional
Bracket drawing:
Semifinal bracket position #1: pea #2, Lansing (Thornton Fractional South) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #2: pea #4, Schaumburg Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #3: pea #3, Normal (Community West) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #4: pea #1, Barrington Super-Sectional
Sectional Pairings
In both boys soccer and girls volleyball, some sectionals are seeded at the regional level. Those champions of those regionals will be paired randomly at the sectional, according to the following system:
- The names of the four regional sites will be alphabetized according to standard IHSA naming protocol and numbered from 1 to 4.
- The first sectional semifinal will pair the winner of Regional #3 and the winner of Regional #4.
- The second sectional semifinal will pair the winner of Regional #2 and the winner of Regional #1.
An exception to these pairings is made for the southernmost sectional in the following tournaments: Class 3A boys soccer and Class 4A girls volleyball. In these sectionals, the two regional winners from the Metro-East area will be paired in one semifinal and play at a local site. The winners of the other two regionals will play their semifinal at the sectional site.