advertisement

Boys volleyball: Barrington's fine effort ousts Vernon Hills

There was a fine line between winning and losing in the first set of the Highland Park boys volleyball regional championship match Wednesday night.

Top-seeded Barrington (28-8) held off No. 8 Vernon Hills in that competitive opening game before the Broncos took control of the second set from the outset in capturing a 26-24, 25-17 victory.

Barrington advanced to its own sectional semifinal game Friday against No. 5 Libertyville, which beat Lake Forest in three games. The Cougars closed out their season with a 22-15 record.

Wednesday's regional crown proved to be a bit of revenge for the Broncos, as they had been eliminated by Vernon Hills in the sectional title game last year before the Cougars went on to place second in the state.

The first set went down to the wire with a huge block by Barrington junior Josh Babicz (5 kills, 3 blocks) giving the Broncos a 25-24 lead.

Then Barrington's 6-foot-8 senior Ethan Carroll came through with a crucial hit for the winning point.

"We were trying to throw an awful lot at Barrington and we are not a great blocking team, but we needed some more blocks," said Vernon Hills coach Chris Curry, whose team led 12-8 in Set 1 behind some strong serving by senior Jared Bennett. "We missed some serves at the end of Game 1 that hurt, and I think they breathed a sigh of relief after they won the first game."

With Barrington leading 5-4, Carroll rolled off 4 service points for a 9-4 lead in the second game before the Broncos gradually built 15-7 advantage on a service point by senior Justin Tiao.

The Cougars tried to keep the game close with a service point by Johnny McDonald (19-for-21, 6 kills, 9 digs) cutting the gap to 17-12. But a great dink shot by Barrington's Matt Rowley (18 assists, 9 digs) got the momentum going back in the Broncos' direction. Rowley added a tap-shot at the net moments later for a 20-12 lead.

"We knew we just had to do better (in Game 2) and win it, and we just played every point regardless of how the last point went," said Carroll, who had 10 digs, 4 blocks and 3 kills. "Everyone played incredibly well. We just came together and played our game, which was great."

Senior T.J. Murray was another huge factor for Barrington at the net with 6 kills and 3 blocks, while senior teammate Joe Roeckell added 5 kills.

"I thought our effort level and competitiveness was fantastic tonight," said Barrington coach Rob Ridenour, whose team closed out the match with an attack by Murray. "We had a nice balance tonight. I thought Ethan (Carroll) had a huge match, and he made a lot of great plays."

Bennett led the Cougars with 9 kills and 9 digs, while James Tiao added 9 digs for the Broncos. Vernon Hills had some strong setting behind freshman Sammy Adkisson (11 assists) and junior teammate Jake Fiarito (10 assists). Chris Winter had 3 kills and 2 blocks for the Cougars.

"For a freshman (Adkisson) to come in and not get rattled, that was a huge advantage, but the errors caught up to us," said Curry, whose team was a seventh seed last year. "I think we matched up well, and we gave them a good run."

Vernon Hills graduates six players, including McDonald, Bennett and Winter.

"From where we started the year - 2-5, looking sloppy - to tonight was a really good journey," Curry said. "This senior class gave themselves a heck of a ride for two years: 54 wins, a trip to state last year. They did that with just a ton of hard work and dedication to the program. They'll be hard to replace - all six of them."

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.