IC Catholic Prep girls volleyball team earns prestigious academic honor

School to host special fantasy football event.

By Mike Miazga

Correspondent

The IC Catholic Prep girls volleyball team once again is the recipient of the American Volleyball Coaches Association team academic award.

The Knights have earned the national recognition in 24 of the award’s 25 years of existence. The only year they did not earn the award the program qualified, but a paperwork mix-up led to them not meeting that year’s submission deadline.

IC Catholic Prep is one of 822 teams that earned the award for the 2016-2017 season. The number breaks the previous year’s total of 764 to set an all-time high.

The award, initiated in the 1992-1993 academic year, honors collegiate and high-school volleyball teams that display excellence in the classroom during the school year by maintaining at least a 3.30 cumulative grade-point average on a 4.0 scale or a 4.10 cumulative team GPA on a 5.0 scale.

Celebrating its 25th year, the award is the single-largest award offered by quantity of schools, players and coaches honored. The program has amassed a 532-team increase over the span of the last decade. Since the award’s inception, the amount of award winners has increased from 62 to its current number of 822.

The girls’ high school category led the way this year with 277 recipients, an increase of 17 over last year.

IC Catholic Prep football to host fantasy football event

The IC Catholic Prep football program will host a fantasy football training camp with Matt Bowen on Saturday, Aug. 19 from 7-10 p.m., at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Elmhurst.

The event will be led by ESPN analyst and former football player Bowen, who is an assistant coach on the IC Catholic Prep football staff. IC Catholic Prep is the defending Class 3A state champion.

Bowen will help attendees prepare for the 2017 fantasy drafts with detailed player breakdowns, rankings and projections. Along with a unique insider’s look at NFL playbooks and schemes, Bowen will answer questions and provide feedback to help build a championship fantasy football season, the school said.

Tickets are $100 per person and includes a buffet-style dinner and an open bar.

There also will be two raffle drawings at the event. One raffle winner will receive a custom IC Catholic Prep bags set and a second winner will receive a YETI Tundra 75 cooler. Winners must be present to win. The fantasy football training camp is perfect for football enthusiasts and is a great opportunity for friends to catch up while supporting an outstanding cause, IC Catholic Prep stated.

Proceeds from the event go toward the funding of IC Catholic Prep football and other IC Catholic Prep athletic programs.

For questions about the event, contact Marya Gibbons at [email protected]. To purchase tickets, visit www.iccatholicprep.org/athletics/athletic-events.