Girls volleyball: Lebron, Lakes get it going against Vernon Hills

The way Katie Cheek tells it, no one leads like Kaylee Lebron.

"You couldn't find a better leader," Lakes girls volleyball coach said of her senior. "She organized all the summer stuff for the team."

Lakes headed into Wednesday night's nonconference match at Vernon Hills with only two losses - to Stevenson and Libertyville. The Cougars had just a pair of wins.

So Lakes handled Vernon Hills with ease on this night?

Not entirely. The Eagles' lead was 19-12 in set one. But following nine Lakes errors, the scoreboard read: Lakes 25, Vernon Hills 25.

"We didn't play our best," Lebron said. "We made some little mistakes. But this team has so much potential. Last year, we had some great athletes. But it's nice to know that we are still that good."

Lakes, a 30-match winner last season, prevailed 27-25, 25-13 against its former North Suburban Conference Prairie Division rival.

"When we got here, I had forgotten that Vernon Hills was in a different conference (Central Suburban League)," said Cheek, whose Eagles graduated Megan Behrendt, Maddie Demo and Izzy Huntington.

Lakes (8-2) jumped out early behind four consecutive kills from middle Katie Billetdeaux. With Fordham University-bound McKenna Lahr serving, Erica Grant registered a kill, and Lakes' lead was 15-10.

"We lost a couple of seniors from last year," Grant said. "But our new juniors bring the energy every day."

The Cougars seemed to come out of nowhere in the first set. Sophie Lehockey notched a kill.

"We just have a few kids who play club volleyball," Vernon Hills coach Ray Rugebregt said. "We have smart kids but made some errors. It's about becoming more competitive."

With Lahr back at the serving line, Lebron and Kelly Zeason registered back-to-back kills to pull out the first set.

"We kept our composure," Grant said.

Set 2 was close early. On a startling block from VH junior Caralynn Orbell, the Eagles' lead was just 9-7. Other than that, a Kayla Caudle kill was the lone highlight for the Cougars in Set 2.

With Lebron serving, the Eagles soared ahead. Grant, Billetdeaux and Zeason registered kills. The Eagles' lead was 22-11.

Cheek pointed to the movie "Hoosiers" for getting her team ready for the upcoming season. And more specifically, the part where the sharpshooter Jimmy wanted the basketball in crunchtime.

"We want to be like Jimmy," she said.

Lebron, who might like to join former teammate Megan Behrendt at Carthage College next season, led a balanced Lakes' attack with 8 kills. Billetdeaux added 7 kills. Lahr, Zeason and Grant added 6 kills each. New setter Rachel Orpano notched 20 assists.

Vernon Hills (2-7) received 14 assists from Orbell, 4 kills from Selin Kirali and 6 digs from Aleen Lim.