Vernon Hills, Lake Zurich to meet for regional title
Max Spiglanin and Mike Heinz hammered 10 and 9 kills, respectively, as Vernon Hills' boys volleyball team downed Libertyville 25-19, 25-16 in regional semifinal play at Carmel Catholic on Tuesday night.
Tyler Small added 6 kills and 2 blocks for Vernon Hills (27-9), which will play Lake Zurich (24-11) in today's 6 p.m. final. The Cougars also got 4 kills from Lem Turner, 3 kills from Dylan DeBoer, and 29 assists and 2 aces from Ryan Opitz. Heinz led the team with 9 digs.
"Once we got over the fact that I started us in a completely foreign lineup, the guys played really well," Vernon Hills coach Chris Curry said. "Max hit a great bunch of shots from the right side, and both he and Mike picked up the defense. When our middles run the attack the way they did (Small and Turner were a combined 14-of-15 hitting with 10 kills), we're harder to defend."
Libertyville was led by Marc Laska (4 kills, 2 blocks), Chris Akers (3 kills), Zac Hauser (2 kills, 2 blocks) and Kyle Winiger (8 assists).
"We are very proud of how posed and confident our boys were coming into postseason," Wildcats coach Jenny Smith said. "They have come a long way to be playing at the level they have been for the last six matches. In the end, our consistency broke down and we allowed Vernon Hills to control the tempo of the match.
"We are eager for next year," Smith added. "We will graduate our libero, Adam Sachs, a huge part of our defense and serve reception. We return all our varsity starters."
Lake Zurich d. Mundelein: At Carmel, the Bears captured a 25-19, 25-20 win in the second regional semifinal of the night.
Lake Zurich (24-11) will play Vernon Hills (27-9) in today's 6 p.m. regional final.
Matt Carmody pounded 10 kills to lead Lake Zurich against Mundelein. Nate Amos and Brent Sweetwood added 6 and 5 kills, respectively, while Andrew Gilbertson and Nick Meyer each tallied 3 kills.
Amos also posted 3 blocks, Michael Savio had 16 digs and Pat Bush dished out 26 assists. David Doherty and Adrian Wojcik led the way on serve-receive for the Bears.
Mundelein (12-25) got 5 blocks and 2 kills from Roman Tkachuk. David Everding lofted 9 assists on 50-of-51 setting.
Deerfield d. Stevenson: At Highland Park, the Patriots lost 25-16, 25-18 to end their season at 18-19.
Keenan Herman and Grant Maleski each had 4 kills for Stevenson, while Josh Cliffer chipped in three. Nicholas Perozzi delivered 10 assists, and Timothy Park paced the defense with 9 digs.