Vikings Rolled by Titans in 3A Regional
By Chris Johnson, REPORTER
The Rockford Boylan, Lady Titans defeated the North Boone, Lady Vikings in the opening round of the IHSA Class 3A Girls’ Volleyball Regional in two sets, 25-13 and 25-8. The fact that the Big Northern participant had the opportunity to face one of the NIC-10’s perennial best in the opening round of the State Playoffs is encouraging for future showdowns between the two power Conferences. How the IHSA Four-Class Volleyball Championship system works is intriguing and could call a question of the need for a possible expansion of the current system. Where a team battles in the post-season is determined by this system. A showdown with Boylan proved to be too much for the Lady Vikings to survive. Boylan had a statistical advantage in available athletes.
Parochial schools face a penalty and have to play a step-up, as a practice. That made Boylan even larger. The “multiplier” is used as a mathematical calculation. It will increase student-population to reflect the ability a school has to find students outside of a typical School’s District. It is a match calculation. It is described as “ghost students” to some. In effect, it is an actual student population measurement tool. It bases the fact that non-public schools have the opportunity to draw athletes from a bigger field. Teams like Boylan and North Boone, one would think, may not typically have the opportunity to meet in the playoffs. North Boone’s student-enrollment is 522. Rockford Boylan’s is 956 with a multiplier value of 1577.40. They wouldn’t have battled in the Football Playoffs this year, had they qualified.
Rockford Boylan is competing in the Class 6A Tournament. Had North Boone qualified for the Tournament, they would have ended up in the 3A ranks with teams such as Byron, Genoa-Kingston and Winnebago. Byron’s student population is 481, Winnebago’s is 438.
In the Volleyball Playoffs, three-seed Stillman Valley entered with an IHSA registered student enrollment of 587. Boylan also defeated them. Boylan would move on to win the Belvidere Regional with back to back victories, in upset fashion, as the six-seed rolled past three-seed Stillman Valley and two-seed Genoa-Kingston.