Boys volleyball: Barrington KOs Libertyville

The two volleyball heavyweights met on Tuesday night in the Grant sectional final, and there were 6 ties in the first set alone.

However, as the match wore on between the 33-game winners, Libertyville and Barrington, it was clear the Barrington defense had the upper hand.

"Our defense was really good tonight,'' said Barrington outside hitter, Michael O'toole.

"We have put a lot of work into our defense,'' added Barrington outside hitter Gabe Hartke.

As expected, this match featured splendid plays by both squads. Libertyville star Jack Stevens was up and ready.

But nothing Libertyville came up with was quite enough to stop Barrington (34-5), which will head the Friday state quarterfinals after downing Libertyville 27-25, 25-21.

Barrington setter Evan Carroll (23 assists) also jumped on the defensive bandwagon.

"We've been pushing our defense,'' Carroll said. "It's been our main focus."

Barrington coach Rob Ridenour notes that he employs three liberos to make sure his defense is fine-tuned.

Again, that first set couldn't have been closer. Libertyville (33-6) grabbed a late lead at 18-17. That's when one of the Barrington liberos went into serve, Chris Babicz (9 digs). He got blocks from Petar Lumovic, O'toole and the setter, Carroll. And Babicz also served an ace.

Libertyville did not back down. Stevens (14 kills) landed a pair of kills, pulling the Wildcats within 23-22.

"Barrington played very well tonight,'' Stevens said.

Another Stevens kill and the set was knotted up at 25-25. Hartke (9 kills) put his team ahead with a kill and O'toole (9 kills) finished the first set for the Broncos.

"From the get-go, we put the time and effort in to get us to the state tournament,'' Hartke said.

The second set was competitive as well. On a kill from Libertyville setter Carter Schaffnit (27 assists), the second set was tied at 5-5. With Lumovic serving, Ricky Gibson provided a big block, and the Broncos had the taken over the second set.

Libertyville's Brendan Cook put down a thundering kill to cut the Barrington lead to 18-15. Wildcats libero Ryan Winiger (16 digs) fired off an ace at the line.

But Hartke answered with a kill, and O'toole served the final point, sending the Broncos to state. Barrington will meet Glenbard West at 10:30 a.m. Friday in the quarterfinals at Hoffman Estates.

Lumovic led Barrington's blocking effort with 3, and Kyle Vasquez notched a team-high 13 digs.

Stevens had 12 digs for the Cats, while Cook had 6 kills and 7 digs. Colin Hawkinson had 5 kills and 5 digs, and Mark Demaree contributed 4 kills.