Where Are Illinois Athletes Playing College Volleyball?

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Class of 2025 rankings update is complete for Illinois.&nbsp; Some of these athletes are heading to college early and will start the next chapter of their lives next month, with all of them off into the world by the end of the summer.&nbsp; Our rankings are a tool.&nbsp; They are a way for college coaches to see where athletes are playing high school and club as well as commitments.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Whenever I complete a rankings update for the senior class, I go on a hunt to double check where athletes are heading off to college.&nbsp; I do miss a few, especially in the second half of the year. I like to also track to see where athletes from states are heading and what patterns we can see developing.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Here is some data on where Illinois kids are committing to college.&nbsp; This does not include if they transferred, but where they are committing.&nbsp; I am starting with athletes who go D1 out of high school.&nbsp; Here are some numbers to take a look at from the Class of 2023, 2024, and 2025.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>D1 Commits By Class</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>2023 - 46</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>2024 - 45</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>2025 - 49</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Illinois is producing D1 with at least 45 athletes heading to the highest level of collegiate play the past three years.&nbsp; This is one of the hot beds of high school volleyball talent where coaches from across the country know these athletes are getting high level training and top competition.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>What Conferences Are Picking Up Illinois Athletes?&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The top four conferences that Illinois athletes are going to are the Big 10, American Athletic Conference, MAC, and Ohio Valley.  Over the past three years, the Big 10 has brought in 19 total Illinois athletes with at least six athletes from each class.  In this year's 2025 class, that includes [player_tooltip player_id='288647' first='Aniya' last='Warren'] (Purdue), [player_tooltip player_id='288633' first='Addison' last='Horner'] (Wisconsin), [player_tooltip player_id='311370' first='Ava' last='Wysocki'] (Illinois), [player_tooltip player_id='311415' first='Bella' last='Bullington'] (Northwestern), [player_tooltip player_id='464177' first='Peyton' last='Young'] (Iowa), and [player_tooltip player_id='189850' first='Lauren' last='Cortina'] (UCLA).  The AAC has quite the mix of schools from across the country.  Memphis has led the way in this conference getting over five athletes over the past three years from Illinois.  The MAC and OVC have been able to keep plenty of athletes close to home from Illinois.  The MAC is bringing in five athletes from the Class of 2025 with [player_tooltip player_id='311420' first='Lauren' last='Coyne'] (Miami OH), [player_tooltip player_id='288630' first='Grace' last='Kreutz'] (Miami OH), [player_tooltip player_id='311421' first='Naomi' last='Dowd'] (Northern Illinois), [player_tooltip player_id='367273' first='Alison' last='Ohlinger'] (Toledo), and [player_tooltip player_id='443076' first='Mia' last='Jurkovic'] (Western Michigan). </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:table --> <figure class="wp-block-table"><table class="has-fixed-layout"><tbody><tr><td>Class of 2025</td><td></td><td></td><td>Class of 2024</td><td></td><td></td><td>Class of 2023</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Conference</td><td># of Athletes</td><td></td><td>Conference</td><td># of Athletes</td><td></td><td>Conference</td><td># of Athletes</td></tr><tr><td>A10</td><td>4</td><td></td><td>A10</td><td>3</td><td></td><td>A10</td><td>1</td></tr><tr><td>AAC</td><td>3</td><td></td><td>AAC</td><td>1</td><td></td><td>AAC</td><td>8</td></tr><tr><td>ACC</td><td>1</td><td></td><td>ACC</td><td>2</td><td></td><td>ASUN</td><td>2</td></tr><tr><td>Big 10</td><td>6</td><td></td><td>Big 10</td><td>7</td><td></td><td>Big 10</td><td>6</td></tr><tr><td>Big 12</td><td>1</td><td></td><td>Big 12</td><td>2</td><td></td><td>Big 12</td><td>2</td></tr><tr><td>Big East</td><td>2</td><td></td><td>Big East</td><td>3</td><td></td><td>Big East</td><td>2</td></tr><tr><td>Big South</td><td>1</td><td></td><td>Big South</td><td>1</td><td></td><td>CAA</td><td>2</td></tr><tr><td>Big West</td><td>2</td><td></td><td>CAA</td><td>1</td><td></td><td>Horizon</td><td>1</td></tr><tr><td>CAA</td><td>2</td><td></td><td>Horizon</td><td>2</td><td></td><td>Ivy</td><td>3</td></tr><tr><td>Horizon</td><td>5</td><td></td><td>Ivy</td><td>2</td><td></td><td>MAC</td><td>3</td></tr><tr><td>Ivy</td><td>1</td><td></td><td>MAC</td><td>4</td><td></td><td>MVC</td><td>1</td></tr><tr><td>MAAC</td><td>1</td><td></td><td>Mountain West</td><td>1</td><td></td><td>OVC</td><td>4</td></tr><tr><td>MAC</td><td>5</td><td></td><td>MVC</td><td>4</td><td></td><td>Patriot</td><td>3</td></tr><tr><td>Mountain West</td><td>1</td><td></td><td>OVC</td><td>3</td><td></td><td>SEC</td><td>3</td></tr><tr><td>MVC</td><td>4</td><td></td><td>Patriot</td><td>1</td><td></td><td>Southland</td><td>1</td></tr><tr><td>OVC</td><td>3</td><td></td><td>SEC</td><td>4</td><td></td><td>Summit</td><td>2</td></tr><tr><td>Patriot</td><td>2</td><td></td><td>Summit</td><td>1</td><td></td><td>Sun Belt</td><td>2</td></tr><tr><td>SEC</td><td>2</td><td></td><td>Sun Belt</td><td>1</td><td></td><td>Total</td><td>46</td></tr><tr><td>Summit</td><td>1</td><td></td><td>WAC</td><td>2</td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Sun Belt</td><td>2</td><td></td><td>Total</td><td>45</td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Total</td><td>49</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr></tbody></table></figure> <!-- /wp:table -->