A heavy area presence will be involved in the Dundee-Crown Class 4A Regional when the girls volleyball state tournament resumes today for all four classes.
Some play-in games began earlier this week, but none involving area squads.
Four teams are looking to eliminate each other with a pair of opening matches in Carpentersville, where Cary-Grove (29-5) is the top seed.
In the second match of the tripleheader evening, locals Jacobs (15-16) and Elgin (17-14) will tangle for a chance to move to the title match.
Elgin enjoyed a breakout season, improving by 11 wins under second-year coach Keith Foster. Foster credits the steady play of sophomore Kendall Martin and the emergence of senior Ellen Holton, as well as consistent improvements from a handful of others, with the team's dramatic turnaround.
The Maroons won four more times in the Upstate Eight Conference then they did a year ago.
"We are just starting to climb out of the rut that Elgin High School volleyball has been in here for quite a while now," Foster said. "Teams that used to normally put us away on the first sign of trouble had to work for it this year and that's another great step.
"I know Jacobs is well prepared and is a good volleyball team. They are tough and we are just going in there focused on them and nothing else. I believe we can play good volleyball, but it's going to take good volleyball to beat Jacobs."
The Golden Eagles turned in a respectable showing in the rugged Fox Valley Conference, including beating rival Dundee-Crown twice.
Jacobs is led by a solid senior core that includes standout middle blocker Lauren Pigatto, Amy Cavanaugh and Stacey Weinert.
In Match 1, fourth-seeded Dundee-Crown (18-16) will meet No. 5 Streamwood (8-26).
Both stumbled at times in conference play, but showed promise in non-conference matches and tournaments.
"We've struggled at times and we've had some good moments," said Chargers coach Tracy Williams recently. "I've moved some people around in positions and hopefully we will start getting back on track."
Huntley, SC East eye titles -- Fresh off another 20-win season, Huntley (21-14) earned the No. 1 seed at the DeKalb Class 4A Regional, which also involves area squads Larkin (9-21) and South Elgin (9-21).
The fourth-seeded Royals will open with No. 5 Rockford Jefferson, while No. 3 South Elgin gets No. 2 DeKalb. The winner of Match 1 meets Huntley.
St. Charles East (31-4) has been tabbed the top seed at the York Class 4A Sectional, which also includes St. Charles North (19-17) and Bartlett (20-11-1). The three schools, however, are all playing in separate regionals.
Bartlett, led by junior outside hitter Carly Sahagian, could be a team to watch. The 10th-seeded Hawks open with No. 7 Batavia (22-13). The winner will likely meet host Geneva (25-5) for the regional title. Last week, Batavia defeated Geneva in conference play. Bartlett made talented Naperville North sweat out a three-game win.
"We have been right there with a lot of teams," said Hawks first-year coach Brandon Mueller, whose team finished 7-3 in the rugged Upstate Eight Conference.
"I think if we are on top of our game passing we are going to be really hard to beat."
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