Boys volleyball: Vernon Hills perseveres, prevails against Deerfield

Drake DeBoer pounded 12 kills, Sammy Adkisson chalked up 19 digs, and Vernon Hills' boys volleyball team defeated Deerfield 25-23, 31-29 in Central Suburban League action Wednesday night.

Derrick Jones and Jake Adkisson added 9 and 8 kills, respectively, for the Cougars (11-17, 4-4), and Jake Fiarito dished out 30 assists.

"These kids are really working to improve, every practice, every minute, specifically with the goal of getting better results against teams we lost to earlier," Vernon Hills coach Chris Curry said. "Deerfield swept us the first week of the season, then took us in 3 sets a few weeks back. So it's satisfying to see the improvement our kids have made in a match like tonight's."

Vernon Hills trailed 12-6 in the second set.

"Earlier this year there's no way we fight back," Curry said. "Then in the middle of the season we would have fought back but lost by two, probably in the third set."

Sammy Adkisson "stepped up his game" and outsides DeBoer and Jake Adkisson "upped their hitting percentage, cut down on the errors and played really aggressive offensively," Curry added. "It's starting to come together for these kids ... at the right time. Combine that with Jake Fiarito's smart setting, and John Otoo and Leo Turner starting to play with more confidence, and we're hoping to challenge some teams down the stretch."

Stevenson d. Waukegan: Grant Maleski delivered 17 kills and 6 aces, as the Patriots won 25-15, 19-25, 25-17 in North Suburban Conference action.

Stevenson (23-11, 5-2) also got 8 kills from Matt Cliffer, 6 from Leo Chen and 5 from Hudson Havenhill.

Lake Forest d. Mundelein: The Scout captured a 25-15, 25-11 decision in North Suburban action.

Mundelein (14-16, 1-5) received 6 kills apiece from Linden Ewing and Abram Nazario.