Boys volleyball: Lake Zurich steals the spotlight, earns first state trip

Yes, it's time to bring up the late Rodney Dangerfield. And his no respect jokes.

It fits to a tee the Lake Zurich boys volleyball team.

There were comments made about the Bears being awarded the second seed in the Barrington sectional. Star middle blocker Nate Amos brought it up. The underappreciated Bears went into the postseason with a chip on their shoulder. And down went three straight foes in two sets.

That couldn't repeat in the sectional final on Tuesday night, could it?

Standing in way of the first state trip in Lake Zurich history was Libertyville. The Wildcats had an 18-14 lead in set one and a 14-10 advantage in set two. But neither cushion held up

The first volleyball team (boys or girls) in Lake Zurich history is headed to state after the Bears ended Libertyville's season with a 25-23, 25-19 win.

Lake Zurich (29-10) will play St. Patrick at 3 p.m. Friday in the state quarterfinals.

If there was one surprise waiting for Libertyville it was a 6-foot junior with long wavy hair. Jake Gorey played some libero this year for Lake Zurich. For the sectional final, he was stationed on the outside, and he delivered in a big way.

"Something clicked tonight," Gorey said.

Lake Zurich coach Lesly Ravenscraft felt good about moving Gorey to the outside.

"He's a very smart outside hitter," Ravenscraft said.

Bears seniors Nick Meyer and Andrew Gilbertson played for a regional championship basketball team in the winter.

"I started basketball first," Meyer said. "But now, I like both sports. Getting to state is all that matters. This has been a lot of fun."

"Right now, my favorite sport is volleyball," Gilbertson said. "Libertyville got off to a good start, but we came together. This means a lot to the seniors."

Amos was more blunt about the power of his team.

"Mentally, we dominated the game," Amos said. "We had so many highs tonight."

What happened to those Libertyville leads? With prized sophomore Jack Stevens on the service line, the Wildcats' lead was 18-14 in the opening set. Stevens helped build the advantage with a kill and pair of aces.

"Libertyville is a great team," Gorey said.

Back-to-back kills from Gilbertson (5 kills, 3 blocks) cut the Libertyville lead to 20-19. Libero Daniel Kraversky was on the line when the Bears took set one. He had help from a Jeff Carmody kill.

Again, Stevens sparked the Wildcats in set two. He had 3 straight kills to open a 4-0 lead. This time, however, the Bears didn't allow the young Wildcats to extend the lead.

Amos (5 kills, 3 blocks) had 3 kills down the stretch. With Meyer serving, a kill from Gorey cut the Wildcats' lead to 16-15. On Libertyville's last 10 serves of the campaign, the Bears grabbed a point. Another thundering kill from Amos knotted the set at 18-18.

Another important junior for Lake Zurich is Alex Krasowski. His kill gave the Bears the lead for good at 20-19.

"This team is all together," Amos said. "A kill for one is a kill for all us."

Krasowski led a balanced attack with 7 kills. The new outside hitter, Gorey, had 6 kills. Meyer added 3 kills and 5 digs.

The good news for Libertyville is that the great bulk of its team is expected back next year. One big loss is senior Nick Zoellick. The outside hitter had a style of his own. Both setter Ryan Hirschel and libero Sam Kharasch, should be back next year. Hard hitters Shane Feireisel and Brendan Cook also return.