Area Volleyball Roundup: Bureau Valley End Putnam County’s Streak, Win Five in a Week
Bureau Valley ended Putnam County’s 11-match winning streak on Monday, swept Knoxville on Wednesday and won three more on Saturday, the best week any of our fourteen teams put together between September 14 and 19. Elsewhere West Central’s Lilly Higgins hit 27 kills to beat Wethersfield in three sets, Monmouth-Roseville won the Monmouth derby, and Princeville played six times in five days.
As usual, a warning first. Results this week came from four places that do not always agree: MaxPreps schedule tabs, MaxPreps match recaps, illprepvb.com and the Kewanee Voice. Where they conflict, we print both and say so. Several Saturday tournaments are only partly reported, so a number of records below are floors rather than final figures, and are marked as such.
The week’s results
| Date | Match | Result | Sets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon Sep 14 | Bureau Valley Storm v Putnam County | Bureau Valley won 2-0 | 25-21, 25-21 |
| Mon Sep 14 | Knoxville Blue Bullets v Sherrard | Knoxville won 2-1 | 16-25, 25-23, 25-23 |
| Mon Sep 14 | Monmouth-Roseville Titans v United Red Storm | Monmouth-Roseville won 2-1 | 25-17, 20-25, 25-21 |
| Mon Sep 14 | ROWVA/Williamsfield Cougars v Elmwood | Elmwood won 2-0 | not published |
| Tue Sep 15 | Galesburg Silver Streaks v United Township | Galesburg won 2-0 | 25-13, 28-26 |
| Tue Sep 15 | Monmouth-Roseville Titans v Rockridge | Monmouth-Roseville won 2-0 | 25-17, 25-19 |
| Tue Sep 15 | West Central Heat v Hamilton/Warsaw | Hamilton/Warsaw won 2-0 | not published |
| Tue Sep 15 | Princeville Princes at Henry-Senachwine | Princeville won 2-0 | 25-15, 27-25 |
| Tue Sep 15 | Wethersfield Flying Geese at Brimfield | Brimfield won 2-0 | not published |
| Wed Sep 16 | Bureau Valley Storm v Knoxville Blue Bullets | Bureau Valley won 2-0 | 25-20, 25-19 |
| Wed Sep 16 | West Central Heat v Wethersfield Flying Geese | West Central won 2-1 | 18-25, 25-23, 25-19 |
| Wed Sep 16 | United Red Storm v Stark County Rebels | United won 2-0 | 25-23, 25-18 |
| Wed Sep 16 | Abingdon-Avon Tornadoes v Annawan Bravettes | Abingdon-Avon won 2-0 | 25-22, 25-23 |
| Wed Sep 16 | ROWVA/Williamsfield Cougars v Princeville Princes | Princeville won 2-1 | 25-22, 13-25, 18-25 (ROWVA first) |
| Wed Sep 16 or Thu Sep 17 | Ridgewood Spartans v Galva Wildcats | Galva won 2-1 | 19-25, 25-22, 21-25 (Ridgewood first) |
| Thu Sep 17 | Princeville Princes at Peoria Christian | Peoria Christian won 2-0 | 25-19, 25-16 |
| Thu Sep 17 | Galesburg Silver Streaks v Quincy | Quincy won 2-0 | 20-25, 15-25 (Galesburg first) |
| Sat Sep 19 | Monmouth-Roseville at Mercer County tournament | beat Rockridge; lost to Barry Western and Henry-Senachwine | 21-13, 21-10; 16-21, 17-21; 19-21, 15-21 |
| Sat Sep 19 | Abingdon-Avon at Mercer County tournament | lost to Henry-Senachwine 0-2 and Rockridge 0-2 | not published |
| Sat Sep 19 | ROWVA/Williamsfield tournament | ROWVA/Williamsfield, Galva and Stark County each beat Farmington | see below |
| Sat Sep 19 | Bureau Valley, Saturday tournament | beat Hiawatha, East Dubuque and River Ridge 2-0; lost to Pearl City 1-2; 1-1 split with Erie-Prophetstown | Pearl City: 26-24, 21-25, 12-15 (BV first) |
| Sat Sep 19 | Wethersfield at Knoxville Invite | beat Ridgewood 2-0; lost to Illini Bluffs 0-2; 1-1 splits with Roanoke-Benson and Brimfield | not published |
| Sat Sep 19 | Ridgewood at Knoxville Invite | lost to Wethersfield 0-2; listed loss to Kewanee 0-2 | not published |
| Sat Sep 19 | Princeville Princes | lost to Mendon Unity 0-2; two further wins implied by record | not published |
At the ROWVA/Williamsfield tournament, ROWVA/Williamsfield beat Farmington 21-6, 19-21, 15-13, Galva beat Farmington 21-19, 15-21, 15-6, and Stark County beat Farmington 21-15, 21-15. MaxPreps also lists a 2-0 Stark County win over Quad Cities Christian on Saturday. We could not find the rest of that tournament’s results, or a champion.
Bureau Valley’s week
Bureau Valley went into Monday at 7-6 and came out of Saturday at 12-7. The Putnam County win was the one that will have been noticed: the Panthers arrived 11-1 on an 11-match winning streak and scored 21 in both sets without winning either. Two days later the Storm swept Knoxville 25-20, 25-19 in a Lincoln Trail match, holding the Blue Bullets under 20 in the second set.
Saturday brought three more sweeps, over Hiawatha, East Dubuque and River Ridge, before Pearl City took a three-setter 24-26, 25-21, 15-12 after Bureau Valley had won the first set. There was also a 1-1 split with Erie-Prophetstown, which MaxPreps records as a tie. Volleyball matches do not end tied, so we have left it out of the record; it looks like a two-set pool-play format. We have not been able to confirm where the tournament was held or where Bureau Valley finished.
Higgins carries West Central past Wethersfield
The single best individual line we found this week belonged to West Central‘s Lilly Higgins, who hit 27 kills with seven digs as the Heat came from a set down to beat Wethersfield 18-25, 25-23, 25-19 on Wednesday. Rylie Ferguson set her with 30 assists and served three aces. It came a day after West Central had been swept by Hamilton/Warsaw, who were on a six-match winning streak, and it takes the Heat to 5-2.
For Wethersfield it was a third straight defeat, after losses at Midland and Brimfield, and the Flying Geese went to Saturday’s Knoxville Invite at 10-7. They beat Ridgewood there, lost to Illini Bluffs and split with Roanoke-Benson and Brimfield. The Kewanee Voice, usually the one outlet in the area with Wethersfield box scores, had not published a report of either Wednesday’s match or Saturday’s tournament when we checked on Monday morning.
Monmouth-Roseville win the derby
Monmouth-Roseville beat United 25-17, 20-25, 25-21 on Monday, the Titans’ pink-out night. Reese Anderson had 22 assists, 13 digs and seven kills; Alayna Riley added 19 digs. United’s Emma Lair matched that with 19 digs of her own. The Titans swept Rockridge on Tuesday, with Carmyn Way serving five aces, and went to the Mercer County tournament on Saturday at 7-4. They beat Rockridge again and then lost to Barry Western and Henry-Senachwine, finishing the week 8-6.
United recovered on Wednesday with a 25-23, 25-18 win over Stark County, Lair again leading with 16 digs and Callie Hall adding 12 assists, seven digs and five kills.
Galesburg and Princeville
Galesburg swept United Township 25-13, 28-26 and then lost to Quincy 20-25, 15-25, leaving the Silver Streaks 6-6 overall and 2-3 in the Western Big 6. Princeville won at Henry-Senachwine and at ROWVA/Williamsfield, the second after dropping the first set, then lost at Peoria Christian, who are 19-3. MaxPreps has the Princes at 7-10 after a Saturday loss to Mendon Unity, which implies two Saturday wins we could not find.
Records as of September 20
| Team | Record | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Bureau Valley Storm (Manlius) | 12-7* | MaxPreps shows 12-7-1; the 1-1 split is not counted |
| Wethersfield Flying Geese (Kewanee) | 11-8* | 10-7 after Wednesday per MaxPreps, plus Saturday; two 1-1 splits not counted |
| Galva Wildcats | 9-5* | at least; 8-5 after Ridgewood plus the Farmington win; rest of Saturday unknown |
| Knoxville Blue Bullets | 8-5 | through Wednesday; own invite on Saturday not reported |
| Monmouth-Roseville Titans | 8-6 | illprepvb; matches our arithmetic |
| Princeville Princes (Illinois) | 7-10 | MaxPreps recap; not reconciled against a schedule |
| Galesburg Silver Streaks | 6-6 | 2-3 Western Big 6 |
| West Central Heat (Biggsville) | 5-2 | MaxPreps; matches our arithmetic |
| United Red Storm (Monmouth) | 5-11* | from the schedule tab; see note below |
| Stark County Rebels (Toulon, Illinois) | 4-10* | at least; 3-10 after Wednesday plus the Farmington win |
| Abingdon-Avon Tornadoes | 3-9 | MaxPreps recap |
| ROWVA/Williamsfield Cougars | 3-7* | at least; own tournament incomplete |
| Ridgewood Spartans (Woodhull) | 1-11* | 1-12 if a listed loss to Kewanee is correct |
| Annawan Bravettes | not confirmed | no current record available |
* Our arithmetic from listed games. “At least” means one or more results from a Saturday tournament are missing.
We are again not printing Lincoln Trail Conference standings. The conference’s own site runs on embedded spreadsheets that do not render, and MaxPreps is still serving last season’s table. We will print standings when there is a current source we can read.
The week ahead
| Day | Match | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Mon Sep 21 | Galesburg at Peoria Notre Dame | 5 pm |
| Mon Sep 21 | Abingdon-Avon v Knoxville | 6 pm (both schedules list it as a home match) |
| Mon Sep 21 | Annawan at Bureau Valley | 6 pm (Kewanee Voice only) |
| Mon Sep 21 | United at Mercer County | 7 pm |
| Mon Sep 21 | Stark County at Princeville | 7 pm |
| Mon Sep 21 | West Central at Ridgewood (at Alwood) | 7 pm |
| Mon Sep 21 | Wethersfield at Galva | 6, 7 or 7:30 pm; sources differ |
| Tue Sep 22 | Geneseo at Galesburg | 7 pm |
| Tue Sep 22 | Riverdale at Monmouth-Roseville | 7 pm |
| Tue Sep 22 | Bushnell-Prairie City at Abingdon-Avon | 7 pm |
| Tue Sep 22 | ROWVA/Williamsfield at Roanoke-Benson | 7 pm |
| Wed Sep 23 | Knoxville at Annawan | 6 or 7 pm; sources differ |
| Wed Sep 23 | United v Princeville | 7 pm; venue disputed |
| Wed Sep 23 | ROWVA/Williamsfield at Stark County | 6 pm (Kewanee Voice only) |
| Wed Sep 23 | Galva v West Central | 6 or 7:30 pm; venue disputed |
| Wed Sep 23 | Ridgewood at Wethersfield | 7 pm |
| Thu Sep 24 | Galesburg at Sterling | 5 pm |
| Thu Sep 24 | Monmouth-Roseville at Princeville | 7 pm |
| Thu Sep 24 | Mendota at Bureau Valley | 6 pm |
| Thu Sep 24 | Farmington at Galva | 6 or 7 pm; sources differ |
| Thu Sep 24 | Wethersfield at Riverdale | 7 pm |
What we could not confirm
- Knoxville’s own invite on Saturday. Knoxville’s schedule lists Kewanee and Roanoke-Benson, but no Knoxville result from the day had been posted when we checked.
- Where Bureau Valley played Knoxville. Two sources say Bureau Valley was at home and two say Knoxville was. The result, 25-20, 25-19 to Bureau Valley, is not in doubt.
- Galva at Ridgewood: Wednesday or Thursday. Galva’s schedule says September 16; the MaxPreps recap says September 17. We have printed both.
- The Saturday tournament Monmouth-Roseville and Abingdon-Avon played. Monmouth-Roseville’s schedule lists it as a home event. illprepvb and Abingdon-Avon’s schedule put it at Mercer County. We have gone with Mercer County.
- Abingdon-Avon v Rockridge. Abingdon-Avon’s schedule has a home match with Rockridge on Thursday; the only result we found is a 2-0 Rockridge win dated Saturday at the Mercer County tournament. We have counted it once. The Tornadoes’ Saturday match against Mercer County has no result.
- United’s record. One MaxPreps recap put United at 3-11 after Monday and another at 5-11 after Wednesday, which cannot both be right after a single win. The schedule tab adds up to 5-11.
- Ties. MaxPreps lists 1-1 results for Bureau Valley (v Erie-Prophetstown) and Wethersfield (v Roanoke-Benson and v Brimfield). Volleyball has no ties; we have not counted them.
- Ridgewood v Kewanee, Stark County v Mercer County and Stark County v Quad Cities Christian come only from MaxPreps team landing pages, which on this beat have shown wrong dates. Treat them as unconfirmed.
- West Central v Hamilton/Warsaw and Wethersfield at Brimfield: results confirmed, set scores not published.
- Annawan were listed for the ROWVA/Williamsfield tournament but we found no Annawan result from it, and no current record.
- Monmouth-Roseville v Macomb, September 9, still has no result and does not appear in the Titans’ record.
Send us results
Scores, set scores, statistics, tournament placings, corrections, photographs: send them and they go up with credit. Coaches and statisticians who post to MaxPreps on the night make this roundup better for everyone. We correct errors the same day we learn about them.
Results checked against MaxPreps schedule tabs and match recaps, illprepvb.com daily results for September 15, 16, 17 and 19, and the Kewanee Voice sports reports of September 14 and 17, retrieved September 21, 2026. MaxPreps scores-by-date pages could not be reached this week. Where sources conflicted we have printed both. No result has been inferred from a team’s record.
