Crossroads Classic Brings Cream of Crop Volleyball Teams To Area

The 28th Annual Crossroads Classic Volleyball Tournament returns to Effingham this weekend.  

Generally regarded as the strongest high school tournament in Illinois south of the Chicago area, it is loaded with powerful teams. That is probably the most exciting facet of this event.  You get to see, early in the season, a display of the quality of teams that will still be playing in their state series after most other teams have been eliminated.

Last year’s post season was typical.  Hermann won the Missouri 2A state championship and Belleville Althoff finished second in the Illinois 3A title game. In Kentucky McCracken County and Bowling Green Greenwood advanced to the Elite Eight while Bloomington and Wheaton St Francis did the same in Illinois. In Indiana, Indianapolis Chatard advanced to the round of 16 as did Ozark, St Louis Visitation, and St Louis Ursuline in Missouri and Normal University, Breese Mater Dei, and Windsor/Stew-Stras in Illinois.

The tournament is hosted by Effingham High School and the Windsor/Stew-Stras Co-op. The action takes place at EHS and St. Anthony High School on Friday night and resumes at EHS and EJHS on Saturday.  Pool play in the 24 team event begins at 6 p.m. Friday, and the gold, silver, and bronze brackets start at 8:30 Saturday morning. Sixty matches will lead up to the champion being crowned at about 5 Saturday afternoon.

Besides the host schools there is additional local interest with Teutopolis also in the field. Defending champ  Ozark, Naperville Central, Belleville Althoff and Edwardsville are among the favorites this year, but nothing is certain in this field. In the previous 27 years of the Classic 37 teams have come out of this tournament and finished their season with a state championship, but only nine of those teams won this event in their state championship season.

For more information and scores see the website:  www.crossroadsclassic.org

Crossroads Classic Tournament

Friday Matches

At Effingham High School

EHS Gym No. 1

Match 1 – St. Louis Ursuline vs. Breese Central, 6 p.m.

Match 2 – Wheaton St. Francis vs. Breese Central, 7:05 p.m.

Match 3 – Wheaton St. Francis vs. St. Louis Ursuline, 8:10 p.m.

Match 4 – Normal University vs. Hermann, 9:15 p.m.

EHS Gym No. 2

Match 1 – McCracken Co. vs. Effingham, 6 p.m.

Match 2 – Glenbard West vs. Effingham, 7:05 p.m.

Match 3 – Glenbard West vs. McCracken Co., 8:10 p.m.

Match 4 – Libertyville vs. St. Louis Visitation, 9:15 p.m.

Effingham Gym No. 3

Match 1 – Belleville Althoff vs. St. Louis Visitation, 6 p.m.

Match 2 – Belleville Althoff vs. Libertyville, 7:05 p.m.

Match 3 – Greenwood vs. Champaign Centennial, 8:10 p.m.

Match 4 – Edwardsville vs. Greenwood, 9:15 p.m.

Effingham Gym No. 4

Match 1 – Edwardsville vs. Champaign Centennial, 6 p.m.

Match 2 – Plainfield North vs. Windsor/Stewardson-Strasburg, 7:05 p.m.

Match 3 – Ozark vs. Windsor/Stewardson-Strasburg, 8:10 p.m.

Match 4 – Ozark vs. Plainfield North, 9:15 p.m.

St. Anthony No. 1 Gym

Match 1 – Champaign Central vs. Breese Mater Dei, 6 p.m.

Match 2 – Bloomington vs. Chatard, 7:05 p.m.

Match 3 – Naperville Central vs. Indianapolis Chatard, 8:10 p.m.

Match 4 – Naperville Central vs. Bloomington, 9:15p.m.

St. Anthony Gym No. 2

Match 1 – Normal University vs. Teutopolis, 6 p.m.

Match 2 – Hermann vs. Teutopolis, 7:05 p.m.

Match 3 – Champaign Central vs. Massac County, 8:10 p.m.

Match 4 – Breese Mater Dei vs. Massac County, 9:15 p.m.

Saturday Matches

At Effingham

Bronze Flight

Match 1 – Pool A vs. Pool H, 8:30 a.m. (EJHS)

Match 2 – Pool D vs. Pool E, 9:40 a.m. (EJHS)

Match 3 – Pool B vs. Pool G, 9:40 a.m. (EHS 1)

Match 4 – Pool C. Vs. Pool F, 9:40 a.m. (EHS 2)

Match 5 – Loser  Match 1 vs. Loser Match 2, 10:45 a.m. (EJHS)

Match 6 – Loser Match 3 vs. Loser Match 4, 11:50 am. (EHS 1)

Match 7 – Winner Match 1 vs. Winner Match 2, 11:50 a.m. (EJHS)

Match 8 – Winner Match 3 vs. Winner Match 4, 11:50 a.m. (EHS 2)

Match 9 – Loser Match 5 vs. Loser Match 6, 1 p.m. (seventh place, EJHS)

Match 10 – Winner Match 5 vs. Winner Match 6, 2:10 pm. (fifth place, EJHS)

Match 11 – Loser Match 7 vs. Loser Match 8, 3:20 p.m. (third place, EJHS)

Match 12 – Winner Match 7 vs. Winner Match 8, 3:20 pm.. (championship, EHS 2)

Silver Flight

Match 1 – Pool A vs. Pool H, 8:30 a.m. (EHS 1)

Match 2 – Pool D vs. Pool E, 8:30 a.m. (EHS 2)

Match 3 – Pool B vs. Pool G, 8:30 a.m. (EHS 3)

Match 4 – Pool C. Vs. Pool F, 8:30 a.m. (EHS 4)

Match 5 – Loser  Match 1 vs. Loser Match 2, 10:45 a.m. (EHS 3)

Match 6 – Loser Match 3 vs. Loser Match 4, 10:45 a.m. (EHS 4)

Match 7 – Winner Match 1 vs. Winner Match 2, 11:50 a.m.. (EHS 3)

Match 8 – Winner Match 3 vs. Winner Match 4, 11:50 a.m. (EHS 4)

Match 9 – Loser Match 5 vs. Loser Match 6, 2:10 p.m. (seventh place, EHS 1)

Match 10 – Winner Match 5 vs. Winner Match 6, 2:10 pm. (fifth place, EHS 2)

Match 11 – Loser Match 7 vs. Loser Match 8 2:10 p.m. (third place, EHS 3)

Match 12 – Winner Match 7 vs. Winner Match 8, 2:10 p.m. (championship, EHS 4)

Gold Flight

Match 1 – Pool A vs. Pool H, 9:40 a.m. (EHS 4)

Match 2 – Pool D vs. Pool E, 9:40 a.m. (EHS 3)

Match 3 – Pool B vs. Pool G, 10:45 a.m. (EHS 2)

Match 4 – Pool C. Vs. Pool F, 10:45 a.m. (EHS 1)

Match 5 – Loser  Match 1 vs. Loser Match 2, 1 p.m. (EHS 1)

Match 6 – Loser Match 3 vs. Loser Match 4, 1 p.m. (EHS 2)

Match 7 – Winner Match 1 vs. Winner Match 2, 1 p.m. (EHS 4)

Match 8 – Winner Match 3 vs. Winner Match 4, 1 p.m. (EHS 3)

Match 9 – Loser Match 5 vs. Loser Match 6, 3:20 p.m. (seventh place, EHS 1)

Match 10 – Winner Match 5 vs. Winner Match 6, 3:20 p.m. (fifth place, EHS 3)

Match 11 – Loser Match 7 vs. Loser Match 8 3:20 p.m. (third place, EHS 4)

Match 12 – Winner Match 7 vs. Winner Match 8, 4:30 p.m. (championship, EHS 4)