Boys volleyball: Deerfield surpasses Vernon Hills

Deerfield rallied to capture a 24-26, 25-16, 25-19 decision against Vernon Hills' boys volleyball team in Central Suburban League North Division action Wednesday.

Senior Derrick Jones led Vernon Hills (6-8, 0-2) with 11 kills, and Drake DeBoer got his serving going in the last set to keep the Cougars in it, coach Chris Curry said. DeBoer served 13 of 14 with 2 aces, both in the third set.

"After a really lackluster effort Monday at Glenbrook North, it was encouraging to see the guys play with so much purpose and energy tonight," Curry said. "We fought in a way we didn't Monday. That said, we still made too many unforced errors to finish the job against a quality team like Deerfield. We were up 18-17 in the third and just let it get away."

Freshman outside hitter Jack McDonald and freshman middle hitter Josh Ludolph both got "great big-match experience," Curry said, as both started and played all three sets. McDonald finished 18-of-19 hitting with 7 kills and led the team with 13 digs.

"Once we get a little more comfortable with each other and trust each other a little more, our offense should start producing," Curry said. "It's already heading in the right direction, but we just don't have enough yet to battle the very best teams. We'll get there."

Stevenson d. Mundelein: Gavin Meng had 7 kills, Matt Cliffer and Leo Chen added six apiece, and the Patriots won 25-17, 25-20 in North Suburban Conference action.

Cliffer also had 2 solo blocks and 3 assisted blocks. Will Sorenson (2 aces) and Haddon Key dished out 11 and 10 assists, respectively, for Stevenson (10-4, 2-0). Georgie Lie had 11 digs.

Mundelein (6-8, 0-2) received 3 kills apiece from Abram Nazario and Martin Carrillo, who also served 2 aces.