Boys volleyball: Libertyville measures up at Conant
There were only five teams participating at the boys volleyball tourney hosted by Conant on Saturday, but that didn't mean there wasn't plenty of firepower.
In the field were the likes of St. Patrick and Walter Payton Prep, both of which have had multiple appearances in the state finals in recent years.
Not to mention Lyons, which is a perennial state contender and scored a third-place trophy and two fourth-place finishes at state between 2002-2005.
That made Libertyville's performance in Hoffman Estates all the more satisfying.
The Wildcats, led by 22 kills and 6 blocks on the day from sophomore outside hitter Brendan Cook, went 3-1 in the tournament.
Lyons and St. Patrick also posted 3-1 marks, with the Lions taking the championship on a point differential, while Libertyville grabbed second place.
Wildcats setter Ryan Hirschel, a junior, had 74 assists for the invite, to go along with 14 digs, 3 aces, 11 kills and 4 blocks.
"I saw a lot of good things," said Libertyville coach Jenny Smith. "I thought we had some inconsistencies - some high highs and some low lows - but for an early tournament, I'm happy."
The host Cougars were winless at the invitational, but coach Steven Peter said his team got some valuable experience that will pay dividends as the year goes along.
"We're getting to know our players, and that'll be important later on when we start to solidify our lineup," said Peter. "We saw some good competition today and I thought we got a lot of quality touches on the ball.
"This was a highly competitive tournament with a lot of well-matched teams."
Senior libero Michael DiPaolo earned 34 digs on the day for the Cougars, setter Luke McLaughlin finished with 29 assists, Nanak Chadha had a 3.0 pass percentage, while junior outside hitter Tim Breiter led the offensive attack with 27 kills and 2 aces.
"We have some new players this year," said DiPaolo, "and we're learning how to mesh together. "We had some good moments today. It's a long season and we're just getting started."
Libertyille started the tourney with a tough 3-game victory over the Cougars, winning 24-26, 25-10, 15-13.
Then the Wildcats defeated St. Patrick to set up a showdown with Payton in their third match of the day.
In the match versus Payton, Libertyville rallied in game 1 behind 3 consecutive kills from Matt Franz, a senior right-side, to grab an 11-9 lead midway through.
A block kill by Hirschel then a kill in the middle from senior Carl Heard gave Libertyville a 19-16 advantage.
Payton came back to take the lead but the Wildcats closed out the set on a Cook kill of a set from Hirschel, then a Payton hitting error to win 25-23.
In the second set, Libertyville opened up a 10-3 lead behind 3 early kills from senior Nick Zoellick.
It was all Wildcats from that point on as Libertyville won set two 25-13.
"This was a good match," said Hirschel after the win. "We didn't know how we'd be seeded here - we didn't know anything about these teams, they're not in our conference - so this was all new to us.
"We may be a young team," added Hirschel, "but we've got strong chemistry."
The Wildcats' quest to go undefeated ended with a final match defeat, 25-16, 25-16 against Lyons.
Other tournament statistics of note for Libertyville included 40 digs by libero Sam Kharasch; 16 kills and 18 digs from outside hitter Zoellick; and 19 kills, 21 digs and 6 aces by sophomore outside Jack Stevens.
Steven Donovan, a defensive specialist, pitched in with 26 digs.
"We've got a lot of young talent on this team," said Smith. "The kids are very resilient - for example, if I ask them to play a new position they're willing to step up and do a good job, and that's a great asset to have."