Boys volleyball: Lake Zurich takes satisfaction in trophy performance

Not a tear in the bunch. No hung heads. No major disappointment.

Lake Zurich's boys volleyball team dropped two matches on the final day of the IHSA state tournament at Hoffman Estates on Saturday.

And the Bears still went home with a state trophy.

"No one would have believed that we would get here," Lake Zurich senior middle Nate Amos said. "It's a massive accomplishment for us. And now we have this massive trophy."

Lake Zurich dropped three matches in a row in late May yet beat two of those clubs in the state series in two sets. In fact, Lake Zurich (30-12) won five straight two-set matches, including its Friday quarterfinal against St. Patrick.

On Saturday, the Bears fell in three sets to New Trier (36-5) and Sandburg (38-4).

"After those losses (May 14-18), we decided we had to go back and play as a team," Lake Zurich coach Lesly Ravenscraft said. "We were kind of out of sorts. We did some team building stuff. For 20-30 minutes, we would sit down and talk."

The Bears stayed hot early on against New Trier. Both Amos and Nick Meyer had 4 kills in the opening set, which turned into a 26-24 win. The Trevians, who finished second in the state to juggernaut Glenbard West, rallied to take the semifinal match 24-26, 25-15, 25-19.

Amos led the balanced attack with 9 kills. Promising junior Alex Krasowski had 7 kills. Meyer (6 kills), Andrew Gilbertson (5 kills) and Jeff Gorey (5 kills) all contributed as well. Setter Jeff Carmody notched 24 assists.

In the third-place match, Lake Zurich trailed Sandburg the entire first set and eventually lost 25-21, 15-25, 25-17. Set two was up for grabs until Krasowski, Lake Zurich's special server, got rolling.

"That lefty server was hard to adjust to," Sandburg setter Grant Burden said. "He was solid. It was awkward to play against him."

Krasowski is beginning to get noticed as a dangerous server.

"It's been a long journey for me," Krasowski said. "My team gives me confidence, and I think (the serving) kept us in the game."

Lake Zurich's hustling libero, Danny Kraversky, volunteered information about Krasowski's rocket serves.

"It's hard for me in practice," Kraversky said. "He aces me a lot."

Krasowski's serve was helped along by kills from Meyer and Gilbertson. Krasowski notched an ace and forced some errors by Sandburg. When his turn was up, the Lake Zurich lead was 23-15. Gilbertson's block kill ended the set.

Sandburg won the final set decisively, however.

In the final match for Lake Zurich, Amos again had 9 kills. Gilbertson (8 kills), Krasowski (7 kills) and Meyer (7 kills) also made a difference at the net. Carmody registered 32 assists, Krasowski finished with 3 aces, and Meyer and Kraversky had 6 digs each.

Lake Zurich, which established a school record for wins, graduates potent middles Gilbertson and Amos as well as Meyer. The Bears bring back Krasowski, Carmody, Kraversky and Gorey. Freshman Bartosz Wielgos saw plenty of action against Sandburg and registered 4 kills.

"This season was unbelievable," Ravenscraft said. "The seniors who were with me for four years were a big part of it."