Calmly, Cougars overtake Fremd

The visiting Fremd boys volleyball team took it to Vernon Hills early, to the tune of an 11-3 advantage.

Although everything was going Fremd's way, the Cougars did not panic.

"We had to stay calm because volleyball is all about momentum," junior Keegan Harris said. "We (knew) good things would start to happen when we picked up our energy."

The rest of Wednesday's match was all Vernon Hills.

The Cougars rallied for a 25-23 win in the first game and took the second 25-17.

"Once we pushed through that big deficit, we knew they wouldn't be able to stop us in the second game," senior libero Jeff Achler said.

Vernon Hills took its first lead in the opening game at 19-18. Ahead 24-23, Harris came through with the decisive kill by hitting over the block and landing the ball in front of the back row.

Harris finished with 4 kills and did a good job of hitting to different points on the court. He also had 2 aces.

"He's getting much better at seeing the floor and finding the open spot," Vernon Hills coach Chris Curry said.

Junior Ernie Choi had a team-high 5 kills for the Cougars, who improved to 2-0.

"He's been a really nice surprise," Curry said. "He's (playing) more aggressively."

The Cougars were in control for most of the second game. Fremd (0-1) was unable to find the level it opened the match with.

"I think we played very loose at the start and we limited our errors," Fremd coach Curt Pinley said. "That's a formula (for success). The problem was we didn't continue to do that. We made some unforced errors and that cost us. Vernon Hills is an excellent team and they kept the pressure on."

Fremd's Calhan Nolan had 7 kills and 3 aces. Senior Daniel Brophy added 6 kills.

Pinley liked the way sophomore middle blocker Steven Maring competed in his first varsity start.

"He limited his errors at the net and did a fantastic job," Pinley said.

For Vernon Hills, Alex Brodsky (7) and Sam Lee (6) combined for 13 assists. Alex Tartakovsky had 3 kills, and Achler contributed 9 digs.