The road to the IHSA Class 1A Girls Volleyball State Finals begins Monday, October 26, with several Central Illinois teams looking to make deep postseason runs.
Decatur Unity Christian enters the postseason as one of the top teams in Class 1A, ranked eighth in the state in the October 22 MaxPreps rankings. The Lions are the top seed in the Cerro Gordo Regional and will begin postseason play Wednesday against the winner of Argenta-Oreana and DeLand-Weldon.
Unity Christian is led by longtime head coach Donna Dulle, who continues to add to an already historic career. Dulle has surpassed 1,200 career victories and remains among the winningest volleyball coaches in Illinois history.
The Lions could face a difficult test from fourth-seeded Hartsburg-Emden, which entered the postseason ranked 12th in Class 1A. Other teams in the Cerro Gordo Regional include Mt. Pulaski, Meridian and host Cerro Gordo.
Elsewhere in the Windsor Sectional, Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond enters as the top seed in the Kansas Regional. The Knights carried a 30-4 record into the October 22 rankings and were ranked 16th statewide. ALAH begins regional competition Wednesday against either Oakwood or Neoga.
The Edinburg Regional features another pair of potential sectional contenders in second-seeded Nokomis and third-seeded Windsor/Stewardson-Strasburg. Windsor entered the postseason ranked ninth statewide, while Nokomis was ranked 22nd.
Nokomis opens postseason play Monday against Okaw Valley, while Central A&M faces Pawnee in the other Monday matchup. Windsor begins its tournament Tuesday against Blue Ridge.
The Tuscola Regional rounds out the Windsor Sectional field, with Salt Fork and Casey-Westfield among the leading contenders.
The four regional champions will advance to the Windsor Sectional, with semifinal matches scheduled for Tuesday, November 3. The Kansas and Edinburg regional winners meet at 6 p.m., followed by the Cerro Gordo and Tuscola winners at 7 p.m.
The sectional championship is scheduled for Thursday, November 5, at 6 p.m., with the winner advancing to the New Berlin Super-Sectional on November 9 against the Triopia Sectional champion.
Statewide, Stockton, Galena and Durand occupied the top three spots in the October 22 MaxPreps Class 1A rankings, followed by Augusta Southeastern and Fulton. Athens, Tremont and Unity Christian were also among the top eight teams.
The IHSA Girls Volleyball State Finals are scheduled for November 13–14 at CEFCU Arena in Normal.
Regional championships will be decided Thursday, October 29, as teams continue their pursuit of a Class 1A state championship.
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