Zion-Benton eliminates Vernon Hills

Boys volleyball

Zion-Benton d. Vernon Hills: At North Chicago, the Cougars were upset by the Zee-Bees 25-22, 20-25, 25-17 in the North Chicago regional final, despite Thomas Robinson’s 15 kills.

Max Spiglanin and Evan Borden had 7 and 5 kills, respectively, for Vernon Hills, which finishes the season 32-5.

“Zion just played with more passion and intensity than we were able to muster all night,” Cougars coach Chris Curry said. “They were hungry and aggressive and played far better volleyball than we did. (Coach) Jake Carlson had his kids more prepared than I did, and it showed. They deserved to win that match.

“We had far too many errors early, both serving and hitting,” Curry added. “Then, when we crawled out of a 12-4 hole in the third set, and got to within 17-16, our errors did us in again. ... It was a nice year, but we may have peaked a little too early.”

Lefty Josh Heib led Zion-Benton’s attack.

“Josh Heib played a great match,” Curry said. “He’s been a great player for them for years. He and (Matthew) Isaacs and the outside tore us up. That’s a real nice team.”