The Neuqua Valley boys volleyball team will miss Jake Blackman, Brian Clark, Brad Stout, Collin Adler and Sean Harmon next season. This senior class won two conference titles, two regional titles and finished third at the state finals the past two years.

But the Wildcats will be in good shape next year with outside hitter Rob Bauer and middle hitter Derek Menendez. The two juniors were vital to the team's success this season.

"There's no doubt in my mind that those guys are going to be our leaders next year," Neuqua coach Erich Mendoza said. "They played on a team that took third in the state, they started and it's not like they had minor roles. They were major contributors to the team all year."

Other returners that will be a factor in 2009 will be Kevin Begley, who served well in the state finals and is likely the starting libero, setter Alex Onsager, who played a lot in the regular season before Mendoza scrapped the 6-2 offense, and outside hitter Tim Brackett, who has a lot of lift in his legs and made contributions when asked.

Neuqua Valley will not play for the 17th IHSA boys volleyball state championship on Saturday night at Hoffman Estates High School.

The Wildcats rallied in the third game, but Buffalo Grove won their semifinal match 25-23, 20-25, 25-22.

Buffalo Grove had a 23-17 lead in Game 3 before Neuqua pulled within 23-21 and 24-22 before the Bison closed it out. Neuqua (37-4) will play Providence Catholic (35-2) in the third-place game at 4 p.m.

This quote in the Sun-Times from Neuqua Valley boys volleyball coach Erich Mendoza could mean a couple different things.

"We scouted a lot of teams prior to the tournament and we all felt that Glenbard East was the best team we saw," Mendoza said. "To beat them says a lot about our guys."

So if the best is out, that means the Wildcats, who beat the best, are now the best. Right?

Glenbard East got out to leads of 5-0 and 8-1 in the second game its three-game loss to Neuqua Valley on Friday in the IHSA boys volleyball state quarterfinals.

When the Wildcats closed it to 19-15 on one of Jake Blackman's 14 kills, the Rams called a timeout. After the timeout, the mega rally commenced.

Neuqua Valley got a dynamic performance from junior Derek Menendez in its quarterfinal win over Glenbard East at the boys volleyball state finals.

The 6-foot-5 middle hitter had nine kills, which matched his season high, and have five blocks going up against Sun-Times player of the year Dan Mader and company.

"He's such a great athlete," Neuqua coach Erich Mendoza. "All year, we've been trying to turn him into a volleyball player."

I'm no expert, but Menendez looked extremely volleyball-player like against the DuPage Valley Conference champs. And his outward enthusiasm, his celebratory screams, are good for a team that stays even keel for the most part.

"He's a real intense kid," Mendoza said. "All the other guys are kind of low key. ...Derek kind of is our spark plug on the court. He is one of the guys who actually shows some emotion."

Neuqua Valley (37-3) will face Buffalo Grove (30-5) in the semifinals of the IHSA boys volleyball state finals on Saturday morning. Neuqua senior Sean Harmon sent The Heat Index a couple text messages on Friday evening after watching the first game of Buffalo Grove's win over Oak Park-River Forest.

These are Harmon's observations:

"rs asher is solid. there go to. but we've seen strong right sides. setter avoids the obvious. middler are weak. (14 is pretty consistent tho) outsides are dec."

"libero is solid. 9 has a weak block. cross on 14 his left hand is weak. second middle, 4, is short, and does not get set a lot. like to set ash outta back row."

Neuqua Valley senior Jake Blackman was the lone Naperville-area player named to the Sun-Times All-Area team, which was released on Friday.

Upstate Eight champion Neuqua Valley counts on go-to guy Jake Blackman, who had 258 kills, 22 aces and 24 solo blocks. Blackman's calm demeanor should not be construed as lack of intensity.

"Jake plays all out for every point of a match, no matter who the opponent is," coach Erich Mendoza said. "Even though Jake led our team in kills and aces, he was always humble about his accomplishments."

Glenbard East setter Dan Mader, who Blackman will see tonight in the state quarterfinals, was named the Sun-Times player of the Year.

Over the past two seasons, the Neuqua Valley boys volleyball team has won 70 of its 78 games, including a school record 32 in the regular season this year. That run has included two Upstate Eight Conference titles, two regional titles and two sectional championships.

On Friday night, the Wildcats will try to make it two straight appearances in the Final Four with a win over Glenbard East in the state quarterfinals.

"We're just building up a rep for the Upstate Eight ," senior Sean Harmon said. "And I hope not only that it builds for the Upstate Eight, but also for our school."

That stretch of success also included two head coaches. Tim Piatek left Neuqua after last season and Erich Mendoza has kept up Neuqua's ascent.

Techniques changed. Philosophies changed. But the Wildcats kept on winning.

"I owe a lot of it to the team chemistry we've had," senior Brian Clark said. "Over the last two years, we've had a real tight bond as well as a lot of good talent. We've had a lot of club players come through. The program's really built. We've had a lot of help from alumni. And, yeah, we've just been playing well."

Neuqua Valley senior Brian Clark told The Heat Index that he may play volleyball as a walk-on at Brigham Young University.

The 6-foot-3 middle hitter said on Thursday that he has spoken to the coaches about playing for the Division I program in Provo, Utah.

Clark had 176 kills and 72 blocks in the regular season, helping Neuqua go undefeated in the Upstate Eight Conference. He had four kills, a block and an ace in the Wildcats' sectional final win over Central.

Earlier The Heat Index wondered if incoming Neuqua Valley principal Robert McBride, who happens to be the current principal at Glenbard East, would have a hard time picking sides when the two teams meet on Friday at the boys volleyball state quarterfinals.

McBride responded to our e-mail queries along those lines late on Wednesday night. Glenbard East has its graduation at 7 p.m. on Friday, so McBride won't be in attendance at the state finals.

He will be hoping for a Glenbard East victory.

The current principal at Glenbard East will be the next principal at Neuqua Valley.

So that begs the question (as this poster on volleyballmag.com's forum did), who is Robert McBride cheering for on Friday at the state quarterfinals when Neuqua plays Glenbard East for a berth in the Final Four?

The Heat Index sent him an e-mail on Wednesday afternoon, which he has yet to return. His heart must be conflicted. He is either dodging the tough questions already, which is not a good sign, or has better things to do than correspond with The Heat Index. Must be the former.

But I understand that a principal might want to choose his words wisely these days.

Naperville North senior Mike Henry played his last high school volleyball game on Friday night, losing in the sectional semifinals to Neuqua Valley and Jake Blackman.

Henry told The Heat Index that he will play club volleyball at Purdue University, where he got a full academic scholarship. That means he will continue to see plenty of Blackman, who will play for rival Indiana's club team.

Here are the quarterfinal matchups for the boys volleyball state finals. All matches are Friday at Hoffman Estates High School. Rankings are according to the Sun-Times on May 19.

No. 1 Providence vs. No. 3 Glenbrook North (1 p.m.)

The Celtics have been the top dog all season, but Glenbrook North has the better state finals pedigree. North, the 1993 state champ, is making its fourth quarterfinals appearance.

Neuqua Valley (36-3) will play Glenbard East (36-3) in the boys volleyball state quarterfinals on Friday.

The Heat Index asked Naperville Central coach Bryan Johnwick and Naperville North coach Roger Strausberger, whose teams both were swept by Glenbard East in DVC play, to explain why the Rams are so good.

"They have a solid block on the right side," Johnwick said after his team lost to Neuqua in the sectional championship on Tuesday night. "Both their setters, (Dan) Mader and (Mark) Jones, are both their strongest players. And they run a 6-2, so they basically have three hitters going at you at the whole time. So that's a challenge.
"Basically you have to set it away from their big blockers, kind of keep it away from your outsides. If you run a lot of middle and right side, you'll do fine. And they serve tough, so you have to serve aggressive. So that's all."

That seems like a lot.

While coaches and players have to stay focused on their next match, we here at The Heat Index will not something as trivial as the sectional final encumber our Sunday plans.

So let's talk about the boys volleyball state quarterfinals. Sure, we don't even know which teams will be there exactly, but we do know that at least one team from Naperville will be fighting airport traffic on Friday.

Neuqua Valley's Rajhan Muhammad helped the Illinois Wolves win their first game at the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions on Saturday in North Carolina.

The 16-U Illinois Wolves opened the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions with a big bang by defeating a highly regarded Boo Williams team 86-82.

Head coach Jeff Carpenter's 16-U Wolves have played extremely well as a team throughout the spring. Alex Dragicevich (Glenbrook North), Rahjan Muhammad (Neuqua Valley) and Wayne Simon (Fenwick) led the winning effort against Boo Williams.

Defending boys volleyball sectional champion Neuqua Valley (34-3) and top-seed Naperville Central (31-7) will play each other for the second time this season when they meet in the championship match of the Naperville North Sectional on Tuesday night.

Both teams looked good on Friday night. The Redhawks had the easier go of it in the semifinals, beating Oswego in two games, but that was because Central played almost flawless ball in what coach Bryan Johnwick called his team's beat performance of the season.

"Our season's been a roller coaster," Johnwick said. "It's the kind of roller coaster that it keeps going up and up and up."

I don't know Jon Bunge.

I know the resume stuff: boys volleyball standout at Naperville North; recent victim of a viscous left ankle injury. But I don't know him.

I've spoken to him for about seven minutes over the last three months of this season. The conversations were not Earth-shaking, and that's not a commentary on him, but just the reality of how hard it its to figure out who a kid is when you only talk to him for a few seconds every once in a while.

This clip claims to be the final point of Benet's regional championship loss to Oswego on Wednesday night. It does appear to be shot at Oswego East, so OK.

His left ankle still in a boot on Wednesday, Naperville North senior Jon Bunge missed his fourth game in a row because of a sprained left ankle.

Without Bunge, the Huskies beat Joliet Township to win the Bolingbrook Regional. North coach Roger Strausberger said his Sun All-City outside hitter would be seeing a doctor on Thursday, but probably won't play in the sectional semifinals on Friday night.

"I don't know," Strausberger said. 'I doubt it."

Both top-seed Naperville Central and third-seed Naperville North won regional titles on Wednesday evening, a few hours earlier than most regional championship matches began because of District 203 graduation ceremonies that were held Wednesday night.

The Waubonsie Valley Regional final between Central and Waubonsie began at 4:30 p.m. and the Bolingbrook Regional between North and Joliet Twp. began at 5 p.m. instead of the origninal time of 7 p.m.

Neuqua Valley senior Jake Blackman told The Heat Index that he may not play Tuesday night when the second-seeded Wildcats face IMSA in the semifinals of the Plainfield North Regional.

Blackman injured his left ankle on May 8 and missed Neuqua's final two games of the regular season, wins over Minooka on 5/12 and Waubonsie Valley on 5/13.

"Even if the Waubonsie game was for more than bragging rights I'm pretty sure I still would have not played," Blackman wrote in an e-mail to The Heat Index on Monday night. "I would have done more harm than good."

As for Tuesday's match with IMSA, Neuqua coach Erich Mendoza said that Blackman went through a full scrimmage in Monday's practice and would be available. Blackman also mentioned that he could play on Tuesday, but wrote that he might sit out to play it safe.

Neuqua should be able to handle IMSA without Blackman. The Wildcats beat IMSA in two games at the Minooka Invitational earlier this season, playing their reserves for the entire second game.

At the Waubonsie Valley Regional on Monday, West Aurora beat Lemont, setting up a semifinal vs. top-seed Naperville Central on Tuesday night.

The Heat Index wonders if Naperville North seniors Jon Bunge and Dan Orna have injuries that will prevent them from playing when the state playoffs begin next week.

Maybe they played on Thursday night in a loss to Wheaton Warrenville South. I don't know because I was in Stevenson for the boys water polo state shindig (not that I would have gone to watch North when Central was playing for a share of the DVC, but this is not the point, don't ruin my momentum). Since the Huskies lost 21 and 21, I doubt they did play.

After seeing this post on the message board of volleyballmag.com...

This just in from our roving reporter: Bunge out with a high ankle spain. OH Dan Orna #2 out as well....

...I sent North coach Roger Strausberger an email Thursday morning asking if it is true that Bunge and Orna recently were injured. No response.

A source on Thursday afternoon did confirm that yes, the two seniors were in fact hurt. That's where the information train ran out of coal.

How hurt? How long will they be out? Did they play on Thursday?

UPDATE: Strausberger said in his email response Friday morning that Bunge and Orna did suffer ankle injuries. Orna played on Thursday, but Bunge did not. As for the playoffs for Bunge?

"It's a pretty good sprain and hope to have him back for sectionals," Strausberger wrote.

Nothing against a win on Senior Night, which the Benet boys volleyball team got on Tuesday against Nazareth, but the Redwings could have been celebrating a share of the East Suburban Catholic Conference crown and not their final home game.

If only the Redwings (23-11, 7-2 ESCC) could have back their loss at Joliet Catholic on April 22. Their loss to Mundelein two days later was understandble, not for how Benet played that night, which was best described as horrible, but because Carmel is a solid team.

But thanks to that ugly two-game loss at JCA, Marist won the ESCC with an 8-1 record. That one loss came thanks to Benet.

So as Benet coach Amy Van Eeckeren told The Heat Index on Wendesday night, the Redwings could have won the title, "If we hadn't been stupid."

I wouldn't have been that harsh, but I'm not going to argue with a pregnant woman.

Naperville Central beat defending boys volleyball state champ Wheaton Warrenville South in three games in Wheaton on Tuesday night, meaning the Redhawks still have a chance to share the DuPage Valley Conferece title with Glenbard East.

In what must have been an exciting match for those in attendance (read: not me), Central lost the first game 31-29 before winning 25-23 and 25-14.

UPDATE: The Sun-Times was there. Here is what Central junior Dan Dierking had to say about being down a game and points in Game 2.

"When we were down (9-3 and 12-6 early in game two), we talked about how much we wanted a chance to win conference," Dierking said. "It was a matter of us not giving up and pushing through. We've been in that situation before. We stayed focused."

Central (28-6) is now 11-2 in the DVC. No word yet if the Rams (11-1 for now) won on Tuesday, which would lock up at least a co-championship for them.

This sets up a megahugeical match for Central vs. Glenbard East on Thursday. Yes, megahugeical.

UPDATE: The Rams wiped out West Chicago, 25-18, 25-14 to improve to 12-1 in the DVC and grabbed at least a share of the conference crown. I'm still sticking with megahugeical.

Last month I figured out that a poster on the volleyballmag.com message board -- nvhsoh989 -- was Neuqua Valley senior Collin Adler. After posting my conclusion on The Heat Index, Adler confirmed that this less than subtle handle was indeed him.

On Sunday, Adler was participating in a chat about who the best outside hitters are and made a less than flattering comment about Naperville North's Jon Bunge.

Adler wrote that "Bunge is a little overrated."

yea you definitely can't say that the oh's from lyons are the hands-down the best, there are sooo many good oh's. Jordan Williams, compared to other top oh's this year is not good, give him time maybe but right now he doesn't even compare. Dodd is pretty good i guess but thats easy when you have netisinga as a setter. The top oh's in my opinion are (in no particular order) Vydra, Padden (I believe he's an oh), Murnane from Francis, Blackman from Neuqua, Larry from LF, Bunge is a little overrated from Nap North I think but still pretty solid, Dowjotas from Montini, both the guys from lyons should be included, and i'm probably forgetting some others. Rusty is playing oh for St. Charles North but they usually just have him hit A and B balls most of the time, he's definitely built to be a middle.

OK, so Adler did add that Bunge is "still pretty solid." But my best guess is that the halfway compliment gets lost in the overrated comment.

Saying that somebody is a little overrated, but still pretty solid is akin to telling your girlfriend that she is a little overweight, but still pretty.

Try that message out and let me know if she's feeling it.

I'm only slightly self-conscious about the fact that I don't understand the volleyball substitution rules. And the hand signals the refs do? I've got no clue what they mean.

While I guess I should learn what the hand signals are, just for good measure, I don't care that I don't understand the substitution rules, because they are pointless and silly. In a game where you can't be disqualified for fouls like basketball, why does it matter how often or at what point a player enters the game?

Just get in there before the next serve fella. We can all count to six. Quit wasting all this time and pencil lead inventing something as pretentious as a position called libero.

If you read the Prep Rewind on Wednesday, you saw that Neuqua Valley clinched the Upstate Eight Conference championship. What was confusing to us was that Neuqua coach Erich Mendoza reported that his team was 7-0.

Since Waubonsie Valley on May 13 is the last UEC team on its schedule, that would mean Neuqua would play an eight-match schedule when the other teams all have nine-match schedules. Didn't add up.

I took a hard look at Neuqua's schedule and found that the Wildcats are actually 8-0, which means Neuqua has clinched the conference championship outright. So, you know, celebrate and stuff.

As best as I can tell, given the facts I have, this is what I think the Upstate Eight Conference standings look like for boys volleyball.

Neuqua Valley (8-0)
Lake Park (6-2)
Bartlett (4-2)
St. Charles North (6-2 or 5-3)
Waubonsie Valley (5-3)
St. Charles East (4-3)
South Elgin (2-6)
Streamwood (2-6)
Elgin (1-7)
Larkin (0-7)

When Benet senior Mike Quigley broke his right ankle last week, junior Kevin Massura probably knew exactly how it felt. Not the broken ankle per se, but the feeling of a devastating injury that ends a season.

Quigley was the starting outside hitter for the Redwings when his season was shattered in the first match of the Benet Invitational. Now Massura has returned to the starting lineup a year after he tore the ACL and miniscus in his left knee.

When Massura was lost for the season last year, it was Quigley that stepped up. Now it's Massura's turn.

"It's just a testament to how great these kids are," Benet coach Amy Van Eeckeren told The Heat Index on Saturday night.

Massura's return to the rotation has been notable this week. He led the Redwings (20-10) with eight kills and three aces in a win at Downers North on Wednesday and had nine kills and two blocks in a win at St. Patrick's on Thursday.

Massura had surgery in June, missed club season because of rebab and didn't step onto the court unitl January. Van Eekeren said Massura was tentative at the begining of the season, but she has noticed a surge in confidence from the 6-foot-3 Massura of late.

"I'm pleased he's stepping up," Van Eekeren said.

After losing to Naperville Central on Thursday night, Naperville North coach Roger Strausberger said he would be holding open tryouts every day as he searches for the right combination of Huskies.

The Huskies tried out two lineup changes at the Lincoln-Way East Invitational: moving Mike Henry from outside hitter to the middle and starting junior Ryan Kristensen at setter in place of senior Mike Buckman.

While the Huskies (19-11) presented their coach with more frustrating results -- two-game losses to Lake Forest and Lincoln-Way Central in bracket play -- Strausberger told The Heat Index on Saturday evening that he was encouraged with the play of Henry and Kirstensen.

Henry, a 6-foot-6 senior, has played in the middle on his club team and he played well enough this weekend to earn all-tournament honors. North has struggled all season with its blocking, so this move might help shore up its defense.

"He's found a spot in the middle, definitely," Strausberger said.

As for Kristensen, who like Buckman came into the season without any varsity experience, there are still some question marks, but Strausberger wants to see if Kristenesen can become effective and consistent with his decision making and his delivery.

When the Huskies (7-3) play at DuPage Valley Conference leader Glenbard East (9-1) on Tuesday, expect Kristensen to be the starter.

"I guess I'll try Kristensen again," Strausberger said.

Hello, egg? I'd like you to meet face.

It may be possible (read: it is the case) that I made a mistake when I reported that the Naperville Central boys volleyball team was in first place in the DuPage Valley Conference after Thursday's easy win over Naperville North.

It is true (please believe me!) that the Redhawks are 8-2 in the DVC. It is true that Glenbard East beat defending state champion Wheaton Warrenville South in two games on Thursday.

But it seems that the Rams are 9-1, not 8-2 as my story reported. Obviously my word alone is no good.

So if the Sun-Times has it right, that means Central trails Glenbard East by one game in the DVC. WW South and North are both two games back at 7-3.

With four games remaining on its DVC schedule, Central can still catch the Rams. The Redhawks play Wheaton North and West Chicago next week and finish the docket with both heavyweights: WW South on May 13 and Glenbard East on May 15.

Neuqua Valley senior Jake Blackman told The Heat Index that he will attend Indiana University and play on its men's volleyball club.

The Wildcats outside hitter also made visits to Colorado and Missouri. He wrote in an email to The Heat Index on Thursday that playing for a Big Ten school was the main reason he chose to play for the Hoosiers.

"The main deciding factor was the volleyball team and how it's a big ten team and I can play against my friends from other big ten schools, not to mention I'll get to play my brother who is at Wisconsin Madison," Blackman wrote.

Already on the roster at IU is Naperville North graduate Scott Anerino.

The IHSA released the pairings for the boys volleyball sectionals on Thursday, and top-seed Naperville Central could face regional host Waubonsie Valley in the championship of the Waubonsie Valley Regional.

As The Heat Index reported on Wednesday, Warriors coach Al Lagger was not pleased with his team being the 8th seed. This might be why.

Waubsonie will play 10th seed Minooka in one of the semifinals on May 20. Central will play the winner of Lemont (16) and West Aurora (18) in the other semifinal.

In other games on May 20, second-seeded Neuqua Valley will play the winner of Romeoville (15) and IMSA (19) in the first semifinal of the Plainfield North Regional.

Naperville North, the third seed, will play Lockport (14) in the Bolingbrook Regional.

Benet, the fourth seed, will play the winner of Plainfield Central (13) and Oswego East (17) in the Oswego East Regional.