Boys volleyball: New Trier edges Vernon Hills in Cougar Classic

New Trier's boys volleyball team defeated host Vernon Hills 25-22, 25-16 in the title game of the 17th annual Cougar Classic on Saturday.

Derrick Jones pounded 31 kills in five matches for Vernon Hills (15-18), Drake DeBoer had 21 kills, and Jake Fiarito delivered 9 aces and 89 assists on 190-of-194 setting.

"We played pretty well this weekend," Cougars coach Chris Curry said. "A lot of guys got some swings, got some match play. And when it came time to step up against a Highland Park team that we went 3 sets with a few weeks back, the guys really showed how they've been improving. Leo Turner and John Otoo especially played much better against the HP middles, clogged things up a lot ... And they're a much stronger presence offensively than they were earlier in the year."

In the final against New Trier, Vernon Hills was even at 22-2 but "we just made too many service errors, and their height was too much in the end," Curry said. The coach hopes the experience provides the Cougars good preparation for the upcoming IHSA state tournament.

"We'll see bigger teams," Curry said, "and we'll have to have better ball control to turn the outcome around."

At Evanston: Lakes took fourth in Evanston's Spring Fling, going 3-2 on the weekend to move the Eagles to 23-13 on the year. Lakes picked up wins over Romeoville (25-13, 25-18), North Chicago (25-19, 25-21) and Loyola Academy (25-22, 8-25, 28-26), before losing to Evanston (16-25, 25-17, 26-24) and Zion-Benton (18-25, 25-19, 25-23).

Lakes was led by Jake Keenan (6 aces, 14 kills, 102 assists), Matthew Haufe (44 kills, 6 aces), Chris Leyva (24 kills, 5 blocks) and Jacob Deener (35 kills, 2 aces).