Boys volleyball: New life for victorious Libertyville
Oh baby! What a match!
While Libertyville boys volleyball coach Jenny Smith sat in Condell Hospital on Wednesday night, just hours after delivering her newborn son Theodore James, her team certainly delivered in the clutch.
Libertyville and Lake Forest battled and battled for three sets on Wednesday night before Libertyville came away with a 25-17, 23-25, 25-22 victory in the Antioch regional championship.
The Wildcats (26-10) will face Barrington at 5:30 p.m. on Friday in the semifinals of the Barrington sectional. Lake Forest ends its season with a 28-11 record.
"We definitely wanted to do it for Coach (Smith)," Libertyville middle hitter Shane Feiereisel said. "It was a big day for her. Maybe this can make it even more special."
It was certainly a special day for the program, which hadn't won a regional title since 2011. Also, the Wildcats had previously gotten swept in two games in their only match of the regular season against Lake Forest, which edged out Libertyville (and Vernon Hills) for the North Suburban Conference title.
"When we played Lake Forest during the regular season, it just wasn't our team. We were making errors," Libertyville outside hitter Nick Zoellick said. "And then today we came out full of energy and it was great to see the guys fired up. We were all excited. We came out swinging today."
Zoellick was swinging with a vengeance, too. He had 7 kills, just behind team leaders Brendan Cook and Jack Stevens (11 kills apiece), in spite of the fact that he had recently popped his shoulder out of place in practice.
On match point, Zoellick teamed up with Mark Demaree for the winning block. But on that play, the shoulder again popped out.
Zoellick was on the floor in agony as his teammates celebrated the victory. Once everyone realized that Zoellick was down, the gym quieted until he got up. A doctor and friend of the family was able to pop the shoulder back into place.
"I went up for that block and felt it pop out of place as soon as I got back down and started celebrating," Zoellick said. "But it was so worth it."
Libertyville got off to a good start, going up 9-3 in the first game. That prompted a Lake Forest timeout. Feiereisel had 5 of his team-high 8 blocks in the first game alone.
The one player the Wildcats weren't able to contain at the net was Lake Forest outside hitter Mason Moore. He finished with a match-high 19 kills.
"We just came out slow and they came out with more energy than we did," Moore said. "They wanted it more.
"This really stinks. I thought we were going to win the sectional."
Libertyville assistant coach Adam Stuart, filling in for Smith, believes that this is the kind of hard-fought victory that can propel his team for a serious run through the sectional.
"The last time we played Lake Forest, it was at their place and it was really a turning point in our season because they imposed their will on us," Stuart said. "Since then, we've really been focused on the task at hand and the guys are soaking up the coaching and making adjustments and they're playing with heart on the court. You could see that tonight."