Spring Rolling of the Peas

The blind drawing that determines the state final pairings in bracketed team sports was held at the IHSA Office on Thursday, April 2. This drawing covered the spring sports of boys water polo, girls water polo, boys volleyball, girls lacrosse, boys lacrosse, girls soccer, girls softball, and boys baseball.

Traditionally, the pairings are made by ordering the sites that feed into the state finals in alphabetical order and numbering them. Then numbered peas are drawn from a bottle. The number on the first pea drawn represents the site whose winner will occupy the first position on the bracket, and so on. "The rolling of the peas" dates back to at least 1940. For more historical information, click here.

Boys Water Polo
Semifinal bracket position #1: TBA Super-Sectional [2024-25: TBA 2]
Semifinal bracket position #2: TBA Super-Sectional [2024-25: TBA 4]
Semifinal bracket position #3: TBA Super-Sectional [2024-25: TBA 1]
Semifinal bracket position #4: TBA Super-Sectional [2024-25: TBA 3]

Girls Water Polo
Semifinal bracket position #1: TBA Super-Sectional [2024-25: TBA 1]
Semifinal bracket position #2: TBA Super-Sectional [2024-25: TBA 3]
Semifinal bracket position #3: TBA Super-Sectional [2024-25: TBA 4]
Semifinal bracket position #4: TBA Super-Sectional [2024-25: TBA 2]

Boys Volleyball
Quarterfinal bracket position #1: TBA Sectional [2024-25: Naperville (North)]
Quarterfinal bracket position #2: TBA Sectional [2024-25: New Lenox (Lincoln-Way Central)]
Quarterfinal bracket position #3: Elgin (Larkin) Sectional
Quarterfinal bracket position #4: TBA Sectional [2024-25: Libertyville]
Quarterfinal bracket position #5: TBA Sectional [2024-25: Palos Heights (Chicago Christian)]
Quarterfinal bracket position #6: TBA Sectional [2024-25: Skokie (Niles North)]
Quarterfinal bracket position #7: Chicago (Lane) Sectional
Quarterfinal bracket position #8: Chicago (Marist) Sectional

Boys Lacrosse
Semifinal bracket position #1: Huntley Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #2: Lockport (Twp.) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #3: TBA Super-Sectional [2024-25: Arlington Heights (St. Viator)]
Semifinal bracket position #4: Hoffman Estates (H.S.) Super-Sectional

Girls Lacrosse
Semifinal bracket position #1: Lake Forest (H.S.) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #2: Huntley Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #3: Lockport (Twp.) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #4: Hoffman Estates (H.S.) Super-Sectional

Class 1A Girls Soccer
Semifinal bracket position #1: Bethalto (Civic Memorial) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #2: River Forest (Dominican University) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #3: Geneseo Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #4: Williamsville Super-Sectional

Class 2A Girls Soccer
Semifinal bracket position #1: Kankakee (Sr.) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #2: TBA Super-Sectional [2024-25: Lake Zurich]
Semifinal bracket position #3: Darien (Hinsdale South) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #4: Chatham (Glenwood) Super-Sectional

Class 3A Girls Soccer
Semifinal bracket position #1: River Forest (Dominican University) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #2: Bloomington (H.S.) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #3: St. Charles (North) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #4: Barrington Super-Sectional

Class 1A Softball
Semifinal bracket position #1: Sterling (H.S.) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #2: Athens Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #3: Bloomington (Illinois Wesleyan U.) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #4: Carbondale (SIU) Super-Sectional

Class 2A Softball
Semifinal bracket position #1: East Peoria (EastSide Centre) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #2: Lisle (Benedictine University) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #3: Carbondale (SIU) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #4: Decatur (Millikin U.) Super-Sectional

Class 3A Softball
Semifinal bracket position #1: East Peoria (EastSide Centre) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #2: Maple Park (Kaneland) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #3: Decatur (Millikin U.) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #4: Lisle (Benedictine University) Super-Sectional

Class 4A Softball
Semifinal bracket position #1: The Ballpark at Rosemont Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #2: Bloomington (Illinois Wesleyan U.) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #3: The Ballpark at Rosemont Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #4: DeKalb (NIU) Super-Sectional

Class 1A Baseball
Semifinal bracket position #1: Bloomington (Illinois Wesleyan U.) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #2: Springfield (Lincoln Land Community College) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #3: DeKalb (NIU) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #4: Carbondale (SIU) Super-Sectional

Class 2A Baseball
Semifinal bracket position #1: Kane Co. Cougars (Northwestern Medicine Field) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #2: Carbondale (SIU) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #3: Peru (St. Bede) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #4: Springfield (Lincoln Land Community College) Super-Sectional

Class 3A Baseball
Semifinal bracket position #1: Crestwood (Ozinga Field) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #2: Geneseo Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #3: Schaumburg (Wintrust Field) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #4: Decatur (Millikin U.) Super-Sectional

Class 4A Baseball
Semifinal bracket position #1: Normal (Community) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #2: Kane Co. Cougars (Northwestern Medicine Field) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #3: Schaumburg (Wintrust Field) Super-Sectional
Semifinal bracket position #4: Crestwood (Ozinga Field) Super-Sectional

Sectional Pairings
In all spring sports except water polo and lacrosse, some sectionals are seeded in their entirety ("sectional complexes") and some are seeded in two separate groups ("subsectionals"). The seeds are then distributed among four regionals for the first level of competition. In the sectional semifinals, the regional champions are paired as follows:

Sectional Complex : The regional containing the #1 seed is paired with the regional containing the #4 seed, while the regional containing the #2 seed is paired with the regional containing the #3 seed.

Two Sub-Sectionals : The regional containing the #1 seed of sub-sectional A is paired with the regional containing the #2 seed of sub-sectional B, while the regional containing the #1 seed of sub-sectional B is paired with the regional containing the #2 seed of sub-sectional A. An exception to these pairings is made for the southernmost sectional in Class 4A. In these sectionals, the two regional winners from the Metro-East area will play at a local site. The winners of the central Illinois regionals will play their semifinal at another site. The sectional championship game will be played at the sectional site.