High school girls volleyball practices started across Illinois this week, and here are five storylines we’ll be watching in 2025 for The Times coverage area.

Can local team make IHSA state finals in 2025?

It’s been six years since a team from the eastern half of the Illinois Valley advanced to the IHSA state finals. That team was 2019 Class 1A state champion Newark, which defeated Illini Bluffs for the title.

If any team is going to break the stateless drought, the Norsemen would have to be high on the list. Newark very nearly did so last season, following up winning the Little Ten Conference’s regular season and tournament titles with capturing the 1A Serena Regional championship before falling in a three-set heartbreaker in the semifinals of the 1A Polo Sectional to a Stockton team

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