With the boys volleyball season heading toward the home stretch, several area teams and players have stepped to the forefront.

Joliet Central, for example, has put together back-to-back seasons with at least 13 wins and went a long way toward reaching that goal again when the Steelmen went 3-0 last weekend at the Joliet Central Quad.

First the Steelmen (9-20) beat Illinois Math and Science Academy 25-15, 25-8 before topping Crete-Monee 25-21, 20-25, 15-10 and earning a 25-17 25-15 win over Bloom. It marked the first three-game win streak for Central this season.

The Steelmen will conclude this week with matches against Bloom and Romeoville before taking on Joliet West next Tuesday.

“The 3-0 showing at our quad highlights the continued growth of a young Steelmen team that is beginning to find its rhythm and confidence as the season progresses,” Joliet Central coach Nick Ratajczak said. “We have eight sophomores, a freshman and two juniors on the varsity, so they are still learning and improving. For a team this young to have nine wins at this point in the season shows that they are really doing a great job.”

Also, during a 25-22, 26-28, 25-23 win over Elgin Larkin on Saturday, April 18, Central senior captain and setter Logan Novak delivered a historic performance, setting a new single-match school record with 32 assists. Novak also contributed across the board with 17 digs, seven kills, and two aces.

TOUGH COMPETITION

Lincoln-Way East hosted its annual 32-team invitational over the weekend and, as always, it featured some of the best competition in the state for an in-season tournament.

Lincoln-Way East finished fourth, going 3-0 in pool play and 1-2 in the Gold Bracket. Lincoln-Way Central went 2-1 in pool play and won the Silver Bracket to take ninth in the tourney, while Lockport was 2-1 in pool play and took sixth in the Silver Bracket to finish 14th overall. Lincoln-Way West was 1-2 in pool play and 1-2 in the Bronze Bracket to take 20th overall, while Minooka was 0-3 in pool play and 1-2 in the Copper Bracket and finished 31st.

“It was a bit of a rough weekend,” Minooka coach JoDee Kovanda said about the tournament. “But playing against competition like that helps prepare us for the rest of the conference season and the postseason.”

INDIVIDUAL HONORS

Earning All-Tournament recognition at the Lincoln-Way East Invitational were Aiden Morgan of Lockport, Carter Geiger of Lincoln-Way East and Declan Garvey of Lincoln-Way Central.

Also passing a career milestone recently was Bolingbrook setter Daniel Kaduthodil, who surpassed the 1,000 career assist mark.

POSTSEASON SEEDING

The Illinois High School Association [IHSA] is using an RPI formula, along with coaches’ voting, to help determine its postseason seedings in an experiment this season. Actual seeds will be released sometime Thursday, and schedules this Friday afternoon.

According to IHSA.org, here are the RPI results and their seed in the sectional, solely based on RPI, for Herald-News area teams. These are not the final seeds, as coaches’ voting will also play a part in which seed a team ultimately receives.

Postseason play begins Friday, May 22.

Hinsdale South Sectional (30 teams): Plainfield North (2, .6651), Bolingbrook (3, .6546), Lockport (4, .6272), Joliet Catholic (10, .5488), Plainfield Central (12, .5381), Plainfield East (14, .5261), Romeoville (15, .5210), Providence (19, .4823), Joliet West (22, .4758), Lemont (23, .4502), Plainfield South (24, .4491), Minooka (25, .4404), and Joliet Central (28, .4168).

Regional hosts are Hinsdale South, Oswego East, Joliet West and Plainfield Central.

O’Fallon Sectional (Sub-Sectional B, 16 teams): Lincoln-Way Central (1, .6590), Lincoln-Way East (2, .6219), Lincoln-Way West (3, .5841).

Regional hosts are Kankakee and Andrew.