Boys volleyball: No fooling: Libertyville rallies past Stevenson
Stevenson boys volleyball coach Eric Goolish knew full well his Patriots had not dropped a match since April Fool's Day.
And with once-beaten, Libertyville in his gym on Wednesday night, he could sense a victory was at hand.
"We had them,'' Goolish said. "We liked where we were."
Where the Pats (17-7) were was up 20-16 in the decisive set three - and then, the Libertyville block turned up the heat.
Especially that tall fellow Shane Feiereisel and the slugger, Jack Stevens, too. The Stevenson lead went away in set three.
Stevens (14 kills, 6 digs, 3 blocks) closed the scoring for the Wildcats as Libertyville moved to 19-1 on the campaign after a key North Suburban Conference win, 25-20, 23-25, 25-22.
After the match, there were plenty of compliments to go around.
Like for that fearsome Stevenson hitter, Grant Maleski.
"Stevenson played out of its mind,'' said Libertyville coach, Jen Smith. "We knew Grant would step up for them. But our defense was amazing."
Maleski was seemingly everywhere. He finished with a stunning 18 kills and 4 serving aces.
On the other side, digging an occasional Maleski kill attempt was Libertyville's most excellent libero, Sam Kharasch (19 digs).
"I told our kids that he (Kharasch) is probably the best libero we will see this year,'' Goolish said.
Kharasch knows he's found a key spot in the Libertyville defensive scheme.
"I love saving plays,'' he said. "I like stopping the glory of the hitters."
Kharasch has seen plenty of the UCLA-bound Maleski - they play on the same club team.
"He's a great guy,'' Kharasch noted. "But this was a big game for us. It was a nail-biter. Both teams wanted it so badly."
Feiereisel again came up big at the end of match. He finished with 5 kills and 5 blocks.
"Our team has a lot of potential,'' Feiereisel said. "I was a little concerned at the end. But we have great confidence. Things fell into place and we were able to finish it."
Neither team was able to pull away in the three sets. On back-to-back Stevens kills in set one, the Wildcats' had a little breathing room at 17-14. On a Mark Demaree kill, the Libertyville lead was safe at 24-19.
Hudson Havenhill answered for the Pats but Brendan Cook (9 kills) finished the match with a hard kill.
The second set had seven ties. Maleski had 5 of his kills in this set alone.
It was tied at 14-14. Both Maleski and teammate Will Sorenson notched serving aces as the Pats' lead grew to 18-16, and Stevenson edged the Cats 25-23.
Set three hinged on the serving effort of Haddon Kay. Matt Cliffer (7 kills) had 3 of his kills during this service. And when Leo Chen (10 kills) checked in with a big hit, the Pats looked in control up 15-11.
"This was our first loss in April,'' Goolish said. "And we were right there tonight."
Stevenson's setters, Kay (22 assists) and Sorenson (15 assists), helped out.
For Libertyville, Drew Fortini had 6 kills and setter Ryan Hirschel registered 40 assists along with 6 digs.