07.26.10

Kevin O'Neil is the coach of the month for June.
Kevin began coaching for 1st Alliance four years ago
and immediately made an impact with his team. At his
first qualifier, he led his team to the Championships
and earned a bid to Nationals. Last year, his team
finished off a very successful season to win the
JVDA 17 club division championship. He followed
that success with another championship, leading his 1st Alliance 16 Black team to the
championship of the AAU National Tournament. Way to go Kevin and we hope to keep
Kevin around for many years to come!

06.24.10

What a way to end the season: 16 Black, 17 Black and 18
Black are crowned AAU National Champions! June 23, 2010
will have a place in history for 1st Alliance | Lions Jrs. |
Fearless volleyball club. Back to back to back national
champs were crowned at the Disney Wide World of Sports.
18 Black started the run by winning the live televised
championship match against Club South. 17 Black was next,
capturing gold after going undefeated all four days of the tournament. 16 Black capped off the
night with a 2 game sweep of Northern Lights. Congratulations to our three national champions!

All Star and MVP awards were also received.
  1st Alliance 18 Black:
    MVP- Sarah McCarthy
    All Star- Jen Milligan
    All Star- Sydney Sauter
  1st Alliance 17 Black:
    MVP- Jenna Duddleston
    All Star- Julia Watkins
    All Star- Alexis Davito
  1st Alliance 16 Black:
    MVP- Lizzy Scanlon
    All Star- Brittney Brown
    All Star- Jackie Aird

06.16.10

Seniors posed for their last picture together Sunday night
at the 1st Alliance | Lions | Fearless Club Party. They
mingled and socialized with parents, teammates and
younger players.

The 1st Alliance | Lions | Fearless Club Party was well
attended with alumni, current players, coaches, parents
and families! The attendees were treated with a club slideshow highlighting the season;
player, coaches and senior awards. Thank you all for attending and making the end of the year
party a success!

06.15.10

15 Gold Team took 2nd Place in the Prep Volleyball.com
Classic last weekend in the Dells. Not only did the team
take second, they also received three other awards:
Jen Martinez won Outstanding Coach, Gretchen
Landego won Outstanding Libero and Amanda McNab
won Outstanding Attacker. Congratulations on a great
season!

06.14.10

Lions 15-1, champs of the GLC Girls Pre-National Tourna-

ment, are geared up and ready for the AAU National

Championships this upcoming week in Orlando.

Coming off a spectacular weekend where the team
was crowned champions of Pre-Nationals. The team beat
Illini Elite 15 Cardinal in a thrilling three game set (33-31,
25-27, 16-14). With games to 25 (third set to 15), you can see by the scores how hotly
contested this match was.

06.12.10

Lions 12 Red and Lions 12 Premium took two of three
medals in the 12 and under division at Asics Junior
National Volleyball Championships at Navy Pier to end their
seasons on a high note.

Lions 12 Red lost to a very good Puerto Rico team in the
championship of Asics, one of only 3 losses on the
season for this dominating team. The team went 37-3 overall capturing numerous medals and
tournament wins. Lions 12 Premium took 3rd at Asics, a great finish for the team. Congratu-
lations on fabulous seasons.!

06.12.10

Lions | Fearless swept the Asics Junior National Volleyball
Championships 13 and under division at Navy Pier,
capturing gold, silver and bronze.

Fearless 13 Red captured gold, Lions 13-1 silver while
Lions 13 Red take home bronze. It was a exciting ending
to a great season for all three teams.

06.07 .10

Fearless 13 Blue won the 13 Club division of the GLC
Youth Classic this past weekend. In the picture to the left,
they are proudly wearing their championship Tees.

Our 12 and under teams also fared well in the GLC Youth
Classic and look to be in season ending form going into
their last tournament. The GLC Youth Classic is a preview
to the year ending Asics tournament at Navy Pier.

Fearless 12’s, shown at left, brought home silver losing to
CVC in a close championship match.

Lions 12 Red took home bronze after losing only to CVC in
pool play and Lions 12 Premium took home 5th!

Congratulations to all the players.

06.03.10

Anne Mastandrea is the coach of the month for May.
Annie balances coaching two teams this year, 1st Alliance
17 Black and Club Elite 13 Black. Anne has also coached
a number of the spring clinics, and is always willing to help
out with lessons. Anne has worked position practices all
season and works specifically with our defensive players.
She is very invested in her teams and wants the best for
both of them. Annie’s practices are well organized and fast paced. Her teams have been
successful due to hard work and dedication by the players as well as Anne. Congratulations
to Anne!

06.02.10

1st Alliance teams stood out at the National Junior Classic
tournament. 17 Black won the prestigious 17 Club division,
1st Alliance 17 Silver took home silver in the 17 Open
division, only losing one match to Illini Elite in the champion-
ship and 16 Silver took home a bronze losing only to
eventual winner Nebraska Juniors in the semis.
Congratulations!

17 Black won in convincing manner going undefeated over the three day tournament. Beating
Milwaukee Sting 17 Black in the final match of pool play sealed the deal. The team captured
three player awards for their team effort: MVP: Jenna Duddleston, Best Setter: Jill Briner
and Best Libero: Tori Clifford.

17 Open Player Awards included Jocelynn Birks for Best Attacker and Caroline ‘Carks’
Niedospial for Best Libero.

In the 16 Open, Player Awards recognized Katie Gallagher as Best Setter.

06.06.10

Lions 17 Red won the Palos Courts Tourney Sunday 5/30,
beating Lions 17 Gold (again) in the finals. This was the
second tournament win in a row for 17 Red.

The players decided to play a one game to 25 final, after
beating Ultimate 17 Gold in the semis. The competition was
strong and 17 Red still captured gold.

The team is definitely peaking at the right time! It was a total team effort with Emily Iverson
setting well. leading Morgan Howard, Maddie Greybar and Kate Aronson to solid attacking
efforts. Val Cutrone was blocking everything in sight and the team’s defense was VERY solid.
Steph Tassone was a vacuum.

05.25.10

Coming off a seven week hiatus, 1st Alliance 18 Silver
looked strong this past weekend winning the 17/18
Central Zone. After having such a long time off, coach
Nic Paquiz wasn’t sure how his team would respond.
How would the team look, would they be rusty? He didn’t
need to worry as the team looked to be in mid-season
form. The team won the tournament beating Sky High 17
Black in the championship. Congratulations!

05.17.10

Lions 17 Red takes home ‘Champions’ T-shirts after
winning the Fusion Challenge on May 16th. Lions 17 Red
won the Fusion Challenge this weekend, beating Lions 17
Gold 25-20, 30-28 in the final. Congratulations to both
Lions teams for making it to the finals.

05.12.10

Lions 14-1 deserves kudos for a 2nd place overall finish
in 14 and Under Power League. Lions 14-1 won the
league date on 5/16 beating Ultimate 14-1, topping off a
great way to end the league season.

Another round of applause goes to Fearless 13 Red, who
was the highest 13 and under team in 14 and Under
Power League. 20 spots ahead of any other 13 yr old team in the league, Fearless 13 Red
finished 5th. The next 13 year old team was our Lions 13-1 team finishing in the top 25.

05.12.10

PrepVolleyball.com’s Gym Dandies list is up and Lions|1st
Alliance is well represented. Gym Dandies, presented by
Team Caller are full time defenders who work their butts
off during practice and play to help the team at all costs.

Caroline Niedospial, Brianne Riley, Bridget Powell,
and Jamie Lundstrom (pictured) make the list.

Caroline Niedospial, Jr., Marist (Chicago IL) made the Gym Dandies 2nd Team. People call her
“Carks” but Niedospial is also “Ms. Pac Man,” a defensive player who eats you alive. Fearless
in everything she does, Carks was HM All State in 2009 and will be a standout defender for
Northwestern starting in 2011. She’s been voted MVP at Marist the past two seasons."She
is quick as lightning and has the ability to reach and pick up balls quicker than any other
defensive player that we have had go through our program," said coach Natalie Holder. "That
is saying quite a bit. She is simply the best defensive player that I have seen in many, many
years." Carks finished the 2009 season with 618 digs, including more pancakes than any other,
and passed 412 balls for a 2.5 average.

Brianne Riley, Sr., Benet (Lisle IL), also made the Gym Dandies 2nd Team. She was the team
digs leader for a 35-5 Benet squad in 2009. This Kansas recruit was named First Team All
Area and Second Team All State last fall. Riley is a fierce and passionate competitor who
simply hates to lose. She works hard, constantly wants to get better and is as disciplined an
athlete as you’ll find.

Bridget Powell, Soph., Mother McAuley (Chicago IL) made the Dandies 5th Team. Powell piled
up almost 500 digs in 2009, amazing considering the state plays 2 out of 3. Quick and with a
natural ability to read the block, she was one of only two sophomores to earn All-Area
recognition by the Daily Southtown Star.

Jamie Lundstrom, Sr., Lyons Township (LaGrange IL) was a Gym Dandies Honorable Mention.
Lundstrom’s 350 digs, as well as her consistent passing and motivation to get to every ball,
helped lead Lyons to the Illinois state final in 2009. She was named to the All-Conference team
and All Academic team this year.

05.12.10

Kristy Krywanio is our April coach of the month. Kristy
is a first year coach with Lions and is always willing to
help out. She has subbed for several coaches for both
practices and tournaments when they needed her help.
She is always available to lend a hand. Kristy is also a
student of the game and is always looking for opportunities
to improve herself as a coach. Kristy coaches the Lions
14 Gold team and her team has an excellent winning percentage this year thanks in part to
Kristy's enthusiasm for the game!

05.10.10

Congratulation to 1st Alliance 17 Silver for winning the
18 and under division of the Milwaukee Sting Elite Series
this past weekend. 17 Silver defeated Milwaukee Sting
18 Gold in the championship!

16 Silver finished 2nd losing to SPVB 16 Elite in a closely
contested championship match.

Congrats to both teams.

05.06.10

Lemont volleyball star Courtney Keefe is ready to dive into
any situation. The 5-foot-10 Keefe made an early college
commitment to Bradley University, a team that finished the 2009
season with a 9-23 overall record and an 0-18 mark in the
Missouri Valley Conference.

Click here to read more about Courtney and her commitment to
Bradley in a Lemont TribLoca.com story by Jeff Vorva.

04.27.10

1st Alliance 17 Silver and 16 Silver score Open Bids to USAV
Nationals in Reno. 17 Silver finished 5th and 16 Silver finished
3rd. This earned open bids for both teams to nationals later this
summer. This was the first time all year that 16 and 17 Silver
got the chance to play teams from Texas, Florida, California,
Colorado, Minnesota, and Iowa. The Northern Lights Qualifier
was a great experience for both teams.

17 Silver was the first team in the program to earn an open bid this past Saturday in Minneapolis.
The team captured a bid after locking in first place in their pool with a win over Skyline. The team
went 7-1 over the weekend with the only loss coming from eventual tournament winner and
nationally ranked #7 Long Beach Rockstars.

16 Silver was in a do or die situation Sunday after dropping the
first match in gold medal round Saturday night to A5. The team
came out ready to play beating Northern Lights 16-1 and Nike
Six Pack. They went on to avenge an earlier loss to Front
Range for 3rd place overall finish. The team is shown at left
looking on as Coach Melissa Cox signs paperwork for their
bid to Nationals. Congratulations to both teams

04.21.10

There was a lot of supurb play last weekend
as our 10s, 11s and 12s competed in the Lions
Jrs. Winter League Championships!

Pictured is the 11 Red Team which took home
the Silver Division Championship. Congratulations
to them and these other teams for winning their
division championships:

11/12 Teams
  Gold division champions-Lions 11 Navy
  Gold division runner-ups-Lions 11 Teal
  Silver division champions-Lions 11 Red
10's Teams
  Gold division champions-Lions 10 LT Navy
  Gold division runner-ups-Lions 10 Ogden Pink
  Silver division champions-Lions 10 Ogden Purple
  Silver division runner-ups-Lions 10 Ogden Red

04.12.10

Lions 13-1 won gold in a dominating effort at the
2nd Annual Spring Classic over the weekend.
The team went 7-0 en route to a championship.
13-1’s defeated Lions 13 Red team in the
championship match. Congratulations to both
teams for making it an all Lions final.

04.08.10

Kristee Conrad is our April coach of the month.
Kristee balances school, playing volleyball and
coaching our Lions 12 Navy team. Kristee is
very creative, hard working and always does
the "extras" that make a great coach. We are
thrilled to have you back at Lions as a coach this
season! Congratulations to Kristee.

03.16.10

Lions 15-1 had a strong showing last weekend in Louisville
by taking second, losing to KIVA 15 Red in the finals. They
had quality wins over nationally ranked NKYVB 15-Tsunmai,
A5 15-1 and Union 15-Garvey.

The parents were extremely supportive and cheering their
team on all that they could! This will prepare them well as
they head into the MidEast qualifier next weekend.

03.15.10

Lions Jrs. 12 Red wins Palos Challenge after being down in
the quarterfinal game and the championship match! The team
went 7-0 behind the great play of EVERYONE!

12 Red pulled out come from behind victories in the quarterfinals
AND finals. The team was down 17-24 in the quarterfinals vs.
Club Kace when Ariel Hamby went back and served out the
game! They then defeated Fearless in the semi-finals to go on to play a very big and talented Sky
High Black team in the finals.

Red was down 11-14 in the 3rd game when Kendal Kavanaugh went back to serve. It was a
combined effort of GREAT defense and Kendal's serving that help Red edge out Sky High and win
16-14 in 3 games. Way to go Lions 12 Red!

03.05.10

Mary Passananti has been chosen as the coach of the month
for February. Mary started coaching for Lions Jrs. when the
club was in its second year of existence and her daughter,
Jenna, now our setter coach was in third grade. She has
coached our fifth grade team, 11 Navy for MANY years. She
is known for her great enthusiasm for the game and dedication
to the young player. Many of our “studs” got their start on
Mary’s team where she not only taught them how to play the game, but how to love the game. In
addition to Mary’s time with her team, she volunteers as our picture lady and helps our photographer
Bob with all of the picture taking, ordering and distribution of the team photos. If you see a large
stuffed Lion on a team bench with a faded sweater, look for Mary to be close by. Thanks Mary
and congratulations!

03.01.10

Lions 14 Boys round out their season by taking gold in the
Developmental League! Ending their season on a winning note,
the Lions 14 Boys team brought home a gold medal in the

Developmental League. Click here to see a larger version of
this championship team.

02.08.10

Beth Keck is our coach of the month for January. Beth started
her coaching career many years ago leading the Lions 13
White team. From there she moved to the 14Red team, 16 Red
team and then onto Alliance where she has coached the 16
Silver team until moving to the 17Silver team this year. Beth has
been known for her tough but fair style of coaching. She
strives to excel in her coaching knowledge and recently put
together a drill book. Beth assists outside the gym with the website development as well as many
other areas including assisting with recruiting and coach development. Congratulations to Beth!

02.03.10

Shawn Myszka presents “The Ins and Outs of Volleyball
Jumping” to 1st Alliance Players and Coaches May 14th and
15th.

Shawn Myszka is currently the Athletic Performance
Director of Explosive Edge Athletics in Eden Prairie, Minnesota,
which currently trains many of the top volleyball players in the
state in Minnesota on all levels. In addition, Shawn serves as a consultant to coaches at numerous
volleyball programs throughout the state. Shawn is a very well known and highly sought-after jump
clinician who has quickly become a leader in the field of jump training, plyometrics, and power
development through out the industry. He is a frequent presenter at strength coach and sports-
specific conferences nationwide.

Shawn, who is the Founder of the Plyomterics/Jump Training Special Interest Group,
has also recently developed the first-ever Jump Training Certification designed for coaches looking
to specialize in training to increase jump performance. In addition, Shawn was voted the 2008
Minnesota NSCA Trainer of the Year. 1st Alliance welcomes Sean on May 14th and 15th as he
trains our coaches and players on jump training techniques.

Click here for more information on the jump clinics.

1.16.10

Checkout the slideshow presentation of our 1st Alliance | Lions
Jrs. | Fearless alumni and high school achievements. We are
very proud of all of our alumni and current players.

Click Here to see the video.

1.13.10

Alexis Viliunas made Lyons roar and was recently named
as one of the 29 finalists for 2009 National High School
Sophomore of the Year. Alexis Viliunas, 6-0 S, Lyons
Township (La Grange, Illinois), was Named Second Team
All State by the Chicago Sun-Times and Champaign News-
Gazette. Viliunas had a monster year in leading nationally-
ranked Lyons to a 37-5 record and second place in the Illinois
4A tournament. Utilized more as a hitter in 2009, Viliunas responded with 210 kills to go along
with her team-leading 543 assists. She was a top server and blocker as well.

1.11.10

A successful weekend it was for 14s, 15s and 16s Lions and
Alliance girl’s team. Lions 14-1 won the Palos Courts tournament
Sunday 1/10 by beating the Altitude 14 Black team in the finals.
The 14-1 team won every match without dropping a single set!

16 and under Power League results: Alliance 16 Black went
6-0 in matches; and 12-0 in sets. Currently ranked 4th overall in
points.

Lions 16 Red went 6-0 in matches; and 12-0 in sets. Currently ranked 7th overall in points.

Lions 15-1 went 6-0 in matches; and 12-0 in sets. Currently ranked 15th overall in points.

1.11.10

The 1st Alliance 17 Silver team made their acting debuts
Sunday at Lyons Township. Check out the individual player
interviews to get to know the girls.

Click Here to see the video.

1.5.10

The girl’s 2010 club season is off to a great start. 1st Alliance
16 Black began the season with a dominating effort at Sky High
in Crystal Lake this past weekend where they went undefeated
at the Sky High tournament. Alliance 16 Black beat one of our
own, Lions 15-1, in a hotly contested final. The sets were very
competitive until Alliance 16 Black pulled away at the very end.
Lions 15-1 had an impressive showing, beating multiple 16 and
under teams including the Edge 16-1 team in the semifinals.

In other league action, 1st Alliance 18 Silver, 18 Black and 17 Silver won their respective 18 Power
League pools both Saturday and Sunday. They are currently ranked in the top 9 out of 120 teams.
1st Alliance 17 Black also had a great showing the first weekend of play and isn’t far behind with
a top 15 ranking.

1st Alliance 16 Silver is currently the second ranked 16’s team in the 18 Power League and is 24th
overall.