DeBoer, Vernon Hills advance to state semifinals

It wasn't a practice that took place at sunrise - no, this preparation session had a friendly starting time of 11 a.m.

Yet somehow Vernon Hills senior Dylan DeBoer overslept that late-morning practice Thursday.

His punishment?

He wouldn't start the the Cougars' state quarterfinal volleyball match Friday afternoon in Hoffman Estates. The opponent was downstate O'Fallon.

And then the Cougars were in a major dogfight with this scrappy club. Vernon Hills (31-9) barely got by. And the credit goes to the player who slept in the day before.

DeBoer looked like the best player on the court.

After his team fell 31-29 in the first set, DeBoer took the second set over. His unheard of 10 kills in that set alone got his team over the hump.

Vernon Hills survived O'Fallon's best efforts and will play for a trophy tomorrow after emerging with a 29-31, 26-24, 25-20 win.

DeBoer closed his miraculous day with 24 kills. The next-highest total for Vernon Hills was 6 from Johnny McDonald. DeBoer's hitting percentage was a deadly .514, with McDonald next at .250.

"Volleyball is a team sport,'' DeBoer said. "You need help from your teammates. All I was trying to do was hit the ball."

After dropping an exhausting first set, the Cougars switched a few things around.

"We brought out a complex system,'' said Vernon Hills coach Chris Curry. "In other words, let's set Dylan."

It was clear these two teams were evenly matched. O'Fallon (25-10-6) didn't have much size but was very resilient on defense.

Still, the Cougars were in a good position in the first set. On an Ian Thoren block, the Vernon Hills lead was 23-20.

However, on kills from Parker Roustio (9 kills) and Alex Belongy (8 kills), this set was knotted at 24-24. In fact, the first set produced 15 ties and 9 lead changes. O'Fallon won the digs contest 36-29, which helped the Panthers win set one.

"When we are scoring, we get tough on every block,'' DeBoer said. "In that first set, we weren't putting the ball down."

Despite the setback, the Cougars did not panic.

"We love to play volleyball,'' DeBoer said. "So I guess we are playing three."

Curry noted this O'Fallon club was clearly a stranger.

"There were a certain amount of unknowns,'' Curry said. "Our kids had not played in this gym. The team we watched on film looked very good in person."

Lem Turner, Vernon Hills' senior middle hitter, felt his team was ready for O'Fallon (24-10-6).

"They were a scrappy team,'' Turner said. "We expected a fight."

Parker Roustio led O'Fallon with 9 kills and Alex Belongy had 8, while Lucas Hackmann had team-high of 12 digs 15 assists.

Turner played very well in the final set for Vernon Hills and finished with 5 kills and 3 blocks.

"I think it took me to the sixth time for me to get out there and block,'' Turner said. "By the sixth time, I took it to heart."

Even in the decisive third set, the Cougars fell behind early. O'Fallon led 7-5 and later knotted the set up at 17-17.

With Adam Weinberg serving for Vernon Hills, Turner had back-to-back kills at the net. He combined with Thoren to put down a block kill, and Vernon Hills led 20-18.

McDonald played the hero at the very end, as his back-to-back kills ended the match.

It only gets tougher for Vernon Hills. Sandburg (36-4) ended New Trier's 37- win season in an earlier match on Friday.

Sandburg is a very tall club. Vernon Hills will battle that team at 10 a.m Saturday in a semifinal. The winner advances to the title game at 5:15 p.m.

"They are big,'' Curry said of Sandburg. "I'm just glad we are still playing."