The long high school volleyball season finally comes to an end with the Illinois High School Association state championships!  Its pretty wild that these boys will be going right back to their clubs next week and preparing for Windy City Roundup and AAU Nationals starting in just a few short weeks.  More about club season later as there are some exciting matchups coming up today and tomorrow as we find out if Marist can defend their title from last year.

If you want more of IL prep volleyball content please take a look at Phil Brozynski’s ILPrepVB and support great volleyball journalism!

Fri, June 6 Schedule

Quarterfinals

10:30 AM CST – New Trier (27-10) vs. Glenbard West (34-5) – Watch on NFHS

11:30 AM CST – O’Fallon (31-7) vs. Sandburg (36-4) – Watch on NFHS

1:00 PM CST – Lake Park (28-11) vs. Marist (37-2) – Watch on NFHS

2:00 PM CST – Lane Tech (33-6) vs. Wheaton Warrenville South (32-7) – Watch on NFHS

Sat, June 7 Schedule

Semifinals

10:00 AM CST – Winner of New Trier/Glenbard West vs. Winner of O’Fallon / Sandburg – Watch on NFHS

11:00 AM CST – Winner of Lake Park / Marist vs. Winner of Lane Tech / Wheaton Warrenville South – Watch on NFHS

MIAMI — FIU’s student-athlete’s successes in the classroom were on display once again in the Spring 2025 semester as the department posted a combined 3.44 grade point average (GPA), matching the highest-ever departmental GPA. 

The Panthers have now posted a 3.0 GPA or better as a department for their 21st-straight semester. 15 programs had GPAs over the 3.0 mark while an impressive seven programs had GPAs of 3.5 or above.

Individually, 50 student-athletes posted perfect, 4.0 GPAs. Additionally, 249 student-athletes had GPAs of 3.0 or higher.

FIU’s women’s volleyball program posted the top Spring GPA overall with a 3.74. On the men’s side, men’s soccer had the top Spring GPA with a 3.63. 

 

Team GPAs for the 2025 Spring Semester

Women’s Volleyball, 3.74

Women’s Tennis, 3.68

Beach Volleyball, 3.67

Women’s Swim & Dive, 3.64

Men’s Soccer, 3.63

Men’s Cross Country, 3.62

Women’s Soccer, 3.57

Women’s Basketball, 3.48

Women’s Cross Country, 3.4

Women’s Golf, 3.4

Baseball, 3.38

Women’s Track, 3.37

Softball, 3.37

Football, 3.0

SOCIAL MEDIA

General athletic news can also be found at @FIUSports on Facebook and @FIUAthletics on Twitter and Instagram.

For Anaya Martin, being nominated to attend the Black Student-Athlete Summit came at the perfect time in her career.

“We talked about life after athletics,” said the Tuskegee track and field student-athlete who finished her sophomore year on the team. “You have to think about (the future) now before it even happens. If you wait, it’s gonna be too late.

“That was a great eye-opener. You see so many eye-openers being here, and it kind of helps you realize that you’re not alone.”

The NCAA office of inclusion sponsored four student-athletes from historically Black colleges and universities to attend the Black Student-Athlete Summit in Chicago last month. The NCAA’s inclusion, education and community engagement team works with HBCU conference commissioners to provide opportunities for student-athletes to take part in this life-changing experience.

The summit, held May 21-24, united student-athletes, athletics professionals and industry leaders for four days of programming. Participants engaged in career development sessions, financial literacy workshops and wellness activities designed to prepare them for life beyond sports.

Aidan Starling, a track and field and cross country student-athlete from Grambling, used the summit to reflect on his position coming from an HBCU.

“HBCUs haven’t always been afforded the same opportunities. It’s usually a pretty stark difference. This kind of initiative, this fellowship, has really given me, as a representative of my school, an opportunity to be in a space and voice some of the struggles we’ve had and learn from people we couldn’t have possibly learned from before.” 

Starling’s time in Chicago empowered him to see how far he has come while recognizing his future path.

“There are points of time when I never would have seen myself making it as far as I have,” he said. “When you get out, when you make it, when you get these positions you’re dreaming of, go back and bring somebody else out to where you are.” 

The Black Student-Athlete Summit equipped participants with tangible skills, connections and pathways to leadership in business, culture and community. The programming brought in speakers from myriad industries.

Ethaliah Edouard, a volleyball student-athlete from Johnson C. Smith, plans to enter the medical field. An impactful moment for Edouard was the opportunity to listen to a session with a former student-athlete who became a doctor.

“She was talking about how she learns, how her brain works and how it was a struggle for her to study, how it was a struggle for her to focus,” she said. “It was like looking into a mirror. The things that she described are the exact things that I spent so much time going through.”

Additionally, Edouard said meeting participants who attend predominantly white schools allowed her to reflect on her own experience at a historically Black university.

“A lot of them talked about how they’re the only ones on their team, in their school, in their classrooms. They’ve never had black professors. Honestly, it made me appreciate my HBCU even more. It showed me there is so much power in me playing with and being surrounded by other Black girls.”

Clay Green, a golf student-athlete from North Carolina Central, said the law session broke down the process of becoming a sports attorney, a path he is interested in pursuing.

Ultimately, Green’s time at the summit will allow him to bring the lessons he learned back to campus.

“We’re trying to build a foundation of not only just financial literacy but understanding that there’s opportunities outside of sports. Knowing I’m not alone set a good foundation of what I want to talk about when I come back.”

Meeting other Black student-athletes, administrators and industry leaders allowed these four student-athletes to gain new perspectives, visualize different career paths and see representation in the professional world. 

“Coming from an HBCU, I already see Black excellence,” Green said. “But seeing it outside of your HBCU is always a pleasure.”