Boys volleyball: Cook, Libertyville finding winning recipe

Bring on the milkshakes and the barbells.

Brendan Cook is supposed to gain 25 pounds in his first season at North Dakota State next year.

The Libertyville senior has gotten a scholarship to play football there and he's been told that he'll need to put on some weight to play defensive tackle.

But it's not slow and beefy that the coaches at North Dakota State are looking for.

"They told me that they want me to play as many sports as possible because they really like athletes and they're trying to make a more athletic defensive line," Cook said. "So besides the strength (and bulk), they want me to work on agility and speed, too."

That was good news for the Libertyville boys basketball and volleyball teams.

Cook, who played a big role in helping the volleyball team sweep host Warren on Wednesday night 25-23, 25-19, wasn't going to go out for basketball and volleyball this year because he thought he should dedicate himself to the weight room in order to get himself ready for college, and his assignment of gaining weight.

"I had told everybody with the basketball team, the coaches and my teammates, that I wasn't going to be able to go out for basketball this year," Cook said. "But then three days before basketball started, the coaches at North Dakota State told me that they definitely wanted me to be in other sports because it helps with athleticism."

Cook was a starter on the basketball team this winter and helped the Wildcats to one of their best seasons in recent history, a share of the North Suburban Conference title and one of the most dramatic regional championship wins ever in Lake County.

Now, Cook, a starter on the volleyball team, has helped Libertyville get out to a 7-1 start. He had 9 kills against Warren.

Senior Jack Stevens had 10 kills and senior Colin Hawkinson had 8 kills for Libertyville. Setter Carter Schaffnit had 24 assists.

"You know, Brendan is getting college money for football, but he really looks like a great volleyball player too. He looks like he could be a Division I volleyball player," Libertyville volleyball coach Jenny Smith said. "I think it gives him a little bit of an edge. How many defensive tackles are playing volleyball? He's getting skills from this and he's able to read things and his volleyball IQ is up there and that's going to translate and they want three-sport athletes.

"I'm really glad he came out. I'm really hoping more football players come out. We do have a couple. It's a good trend."

Speaking of football players, Ian Schilling, the starting quarterback for the Warren football team, is a starter for the volleyball team there. He is an outside hitter for the Blue Devils, who made multiple runs at Libertyville but were never able to get over the hump.

Senior outside hitter Kyle Wells led Warren with 13 kills.

"We started really slow in the second game and got down 6 points (10-4)," Wells said. "And we kind of made a comeback, but it just wasn't enough to finish the game. We couldn't get over (the deficit) and get a lead."

Warren drops to 4-4 on the season.

"We just need to work harder at sustaining energy throughout and keeping that enthusiasm," Warren coach Yun Chen said. "We're going to make mistakes, but we have to let go of those mistakes and move on to the next play. We're still working on that. But overall, the coaches weren't disappointed in that match. I thought we were playing with them and working through some things that we were trying to work through."