Vernon Hills hangs on against Lake Zurich

It's not wise to awaken a sleeping giant because, as the reasoning goes, it will only make him mad.

And that win by Lake Zurich over Vernon Hills late in the boys volleyball regular season, well, all it seemed to do was give the powerful Cougars something to prove at the Antioch sectional on Friday night.

And so Vernon Hills quickly dispatched the upstart Bears in set one. One more easy set and that Cinderella club from Lake Zurich would be done.

Not so fast. The Bears won set two in stunning fashion, and then it was anyone's match.

And yes, it went down to the wire again. The two final sets of the season for Lake Zurich were epics. Vernon Hills (29-9) will match up with top seed Barrington on Tuesday night in Antioch. And the Cougars needed every bit of energy to pull out a 25-17, 25-27, 25-23 decision.

"We lost the last time to Lake Zurich,'' said Vernon Hills junior Johnny McDonald. "You have to give them credit. But we found a way to win."

Vernon Hills coach Chris Curry wasn't surprised to see Lake Zurich reach the first sectional in school history.

"They were very good last year,'' Curry said. "They are tremendous at tooling the ball. Our blocking was sloppy tonight. It's still not a work of art. But this a great feeling to win. These kids are fun to coach. You can tell, they are really trying."

Again, the first set was a breeze for the Cougars. Lem Turner (5 kills) had a kill while serving, and it was quickly an 8-3 Vernon Hills lead. The Bears (20-19) mounted a brief comeback on consecutive kills from Nate Amos (4 kills). McDonald (6 kills) had 3 consecutive kills, breaking Lake Zurich's service.

"I do whatever coach tells me,'' McDonald said. "I just need to be ready. I've learned a lot from the Vernon Hills players."

With Lake Zurich's season in doubt, the Bears and Cougars contested a closely played second set.

"We were nervous to start with,'' said Lake Zurich coach Lesly Ravenscraft. "We were hesitant. I told them that we had nothing to lose. We weren't supposed to be here."

Neither team gathered much momentum in the second set. Vernon Hills senior outside hitter Dylan DeBoer was giving his team some strong play.

"We play our game,'' DeBoer said. "We do what we need to do to win. We are one big family. And that's not just thet varsity, but the whole program. We really care about each other."

The powerful Amos closed out set two with a thundering kill and it was off to the third set.

Lake Zurich forged 7 ties in the final set but couldn't grab the lead. DeBoer's service ace and a Lake Zurich error helped the Cougars to a 14-12 lead.

The Cougars' lead grew to 17-14. Matt Carmody, in his last match as a Bear, drilled a kill to cut the lead down. The senior finished with 6 kills.

DeBoer fired off a kill to give his club a 23-22 lead. Still Amos answered back with a block kill. Versatile Jared Bennett (10 kills, 13 assists and 7 digs) served the game-winner.

Curry wasn't pleased that his club allowed the Bears to come back strongly. He's seen that before.

"We did the same thing against Hersey (regional final),'' Curry said. "We are not making adjustments. We allow the other team to make adjustments."

Those adjustments will be key come Tuesday night in Antioch. The winner between Barrington and the Cougars goes to the state tournament.