Boys volleyball: Defensive stand helps Vernon Hills past Stevenson
Johnny McDonald pounded 6 kills, and Jared Bennett and Matt Kushnir added five apiece, as Vernon Hills' boys volleyball team defeated Stevenson 25-15, 25-19 in North Suburban Conference action.
"We played a lot better defense tonight, and it made a big difference over Tuesday's loss to Libertyville," coach Chris Curry said after his Cougars improved to 10-7 and 4-1 in the NSC. "We were hesitant Tuesday, and that's no way to play. Tonight, the guys just flew around, we had a bunch of digs on hard hits from Stevenson, and that fed both the transition offense and the emotion."
Chris Winter added 3 kills and 2 blocks for Vernon Hills.
"Chris Winter is his boring, reliable self: 6 swings, 3 kills, no errors, ho-hum," Curry joked. "We take him for granted, and he just is so steady for us, gets so many block touches."
Kushnir served 2 aces.
"Oh, and we didn't miss 12 serves," Curry said. "So that helped."
Stevenson (9-11) received 4 kills from Alex Pieprzycki.
Lake Zurich d. North Chicago: Nate Amos slammed 8 kills, as the Bears won 25-12, 25-11 to improve to 9-2 and 4-0 in the North Suburban.
Nick Meyer added 3 kills for Lake Zurich, Jeff Carmody distributed 23 assists and 2 aces, and Alex Krasowski served 3 aces.
Libertyville d. Antioch: The Wildcats won 25-13, 25-14 to hike their record to 12-5 and 4-0 in the North Suburban.
Drew Fortini had 5 kills for Libertyville, which received four apiece from Jack Stevens, Brendan Cook and Mark Demaree. Ryan Hirschel distributed 25 assists, Sam Kharasch notched 17 digs, and Shane Feieriesel and Matt Franz chipped in 3 kills apiece.
Zion-Benton d. Mundelein: The Mustangs lost 25-20, 25-17 in North Suburban action, despite 6 kills from Abram Nazario.
Linden Ewing and Nickolai Kalinoski added 3 kills apiece for Mundelein (4-17, 0-4). Ewing also dished out 11 assists.
Lake Forest Academy d. Grayslake North: Austin Martineau had 4 kills and Alex Hartigan added 3 blocks for the Knights, who lost 25-13, 25-10 to fall to 4-16.