Boys volleyball: Vernon Hills tops Highland Park in 3
Derrick Jones slammed 11 kills, Drake DeBoer added 10 kills and 3 blocks, and Vernon Hills' boys volleyball team outlasted Highland Park 24-26, 25-23, 25-19 in Central Suburban League action Tuesday night.
The Cougars improved to 8-12 and 2-3 in the CSL.
"​Tonight was an important match for us," Vernon Hills coach Chris Curry said. "We had lost four 3-set matches in a row, usually by two points in the third set. We lacked the emotional control to deal with the big moments. We'd make all the errors late and let our opponents score without having to earn it.
"And tonight we were doing the same thing in the first set. We took a 20-12 lead, then missed three consecutive serves late and hit 5 of our last 6 attacks out of bounds. The great part was how our guys reacted. They got it together."
Jake Fiarito dished out 32 assists and "ran a great floor, made some good attacks, won a joust, and basically kept everyone calm," Curry said.
In the third set, Jones hit 5 of 5 with 5 kills.
"On a night when our passing was pretty weak, we did the other things late to win," Curry said. "We cut down on service errors while still serving tough."
Jake Adkisson (6 kills), Leo Turner (4 blocks) and John Otoo (2 kills, 3 blocks) all got blocks down the stretch.
"We kept our composure," Curry said. "Team grew up just a little tonight.'
Lakes d. Grant: Matthew Haufe had 4 kills, 5 aces and 7 digs for the Eagles, who won 25-16, 25-19 to remain undefeated in the Northern Lake County Conference.
Lakes (18-10, 8-0) also got 23 assists and 4 kills from Jake Keenan. Evan Schneider had 6 kills and 2 blocks.
Grayslake North d. Grayslake Central: Austin Martineau had 8 kills, Al Hartigan added 6 and 5 blocks, and the Knights won 25-19, 25-20 in Northern Lake County action.
Nick Anello dished out 17 assists for Grayslake North (9-14, 4-4). The Knights' other contributors included Brandon Lebaron (5 kills, 6 digs, 3 aces), Jamal Thomas (2 kills, 2 blocks), Bryan Melgoza (8 digs), Cole Pelegrino (5 digs) and Jarod Hesse (2 kills, 3 digs).
Matt Kosikowski (3 blocks) and Keegan Zack each had 4 kills for Grayslake Central.