Super win suits Stevenson
Tim Crow’s 5-year-old daughter ran excitedly toward him to give celebratory hugs, or just plain old daddy hugs.
Then the 3-year-old son of Stevenson’s boys volleyball coach did the same, while wife Jen held the couple’s 1-year-old boy. The trio of color-coordinated Crow kids all wore “super fan” T-shirts made by mommy.
Crow’s other kids, “the ones I see more than my own,” he said, were done running around for the night. The Patriots were celebrating on their home court after outlasting Carmel Catholic 25-20, 25-20 in the teams’ regional final in Lincolnshire on Wednesday.
“There’s a lot of sharing right now,” said Crow, Stevenson’s girls volleyball coach, too. “My wife is incredible.”
His Patriots aren’t so bad themselves.
Stevenson improved to 31-4 in earning a berth in Friday’s 7:30 p.m. Barrington sectional semifinal against Zion-Benton, which upset Vernon Hills in three sets at North Chicago.
“They got a lot of weapons. It’s a lot to stop,” Carmel coach Kevin Nylen said of the Patriots. “The guys are so technically sound. They kind of take on Tim’s persona. They just keep going.”
Stevenson’s attack came from all areas of the court. Collin Ryan and Brad Tiller each slammed 9 kills, Jason Fleischman contributed seven, and Aaron Zalewski added five. They provided plenty of options for smooth junior setter Jonah May, who dished out 30 assists and had zero setting errors in 51 attempts.
“Weapons all sides of the court,” May said. “It’s really been helpful all season being able to spread the ball around, and it’s been really successful for us.”
May even had a pair of kills himself, with both coming in the second set. He found a vacant deep corner on the first, and his second required even higher levels of skill and savvy. May raced toward the center of the court and then flicked the ball behind his head. The ball landed untouched near the antennae, breaking a 15-15 tie.
“I sort of saw an opening in the block so I just put it over, and we got the point,” May said. “I’ve done that before. It’s one of my favorites.”
Carmel, which earned a share of the East Suburban Catholic Conference championship with Marist, finished 23-13. The Corsairs got 9 kills from spirited Kevin Fitzgibbons, five from Henry Dominicis and four from Will Collazo. Zach Rappe posted a pair of blocks, Alex Dunlap lofted 20 aces, and Frankie Cohen collected 6 digs.
“What I told (the players) was, the better team won,” Nylen said. “Even if we had played our best, there was no guarantee that we were going to win. A tip of the cap to (Stevenson). We fought.”
A block by Zalewski, followed by his kill, after he nearly whiffed on May’s set, gave Stevenson the lead for good at 13-12 in the opening set. Carmel stayed close again in the second set, but the Corsairs again couldn’t sustain a consistent attack. Stevenson kept coming and eventually completed the victory on a kill by Ryan.
“We’ve been an up-and-down team all season long,” Nylen said. “A lot more highs than lows. But even (Tuesday) night (against Warren), we struggled with consistency.”
Robbie Redman had a team-best 8 digs for Stevenson, and Aaron Appelbaum was 9-of-9 serving with 2 aces.
“We were able to squeak it out against a very good, consistent Carmel team,” Crow said. “They played really well. They didn’t make a lot of errors. They really put the pressure on us, and our guys were able to step up and make the plays, especially at the net.”