Bennett, Vernon Hills serve up winning playoff opener
With the stretch run of the volleyball season in progress, Jared Bennett continues to work from the stretch.
When he serves, Vernon Hills' 6-foot-2 junior outside hitter/setter sets up sideways behind the service line, as if he were a southpaw pitcher holding a runner at first base. Bennet then whips his hips to the right, tosses the ball high in the air, leaps and swings.
Quirky? Perhaps.
Effective?
"It's effective at times," Bennett said with a laugh. "I just got to get a good toss."
He tossed up a few good ones Tuesday night, serving 4 aces and delivering a couple of others that challenged the opposing serve receivers, as the Cougars captured a 25-19, 25-18 decision over Carmel Catholic in regional semifinal action at Vernon Hills.
"He's effective (with his jump serve) when he stays under control and has a little discipline in terms of which ones he swings at and which ones he just takes a roll at," Vernon Hills coach Chris Curry said. "If it's not a good toss, he should let it go."
Bennett serves again tonight, when No. 7 Vernon Hills (27-9) takes on No. 2 Hersey (29-7) for the regional championship at 6 p.m. Earlier this month, Vernon Hills beat Hersey in three sets in the Glenbrook North tournament.
It was a different environment, however, as the match was played in a back gym and in the quarterfinal round. Now, it's loser go home.
"The last time we played Hersey, we played at a high level," Curry said. "We got to find that level again."
"We just got to play our game," Bennett said. "We got to be consistent with everything. We got to be dangerous at the serve line and serve receive, and I think we'll be good."
Another strong night at the service line from Bennett will help. Despite hitting his first serve of the match long, he finished 10 of 12. He has been using his unorthodox jump serve since his freshman year.
"I started like that and I haven't changed since," said Bennett, who also had 5 kills and 2 blocks, and was 25-of-25 setting with 11 assists. "I never saw anyone else do it. "
Dylan DeBoer served 10 of 10 with 3 aces for Vernon Hills, which had plenty of fan support. The Cougars led the opening set only 19-16 before Johnny McDonald (4 kills) dinked a kill to start a 3-0 run. DeBoer (3 kills) muscled an attack through a block to end the set.
Carmel - which got 6 kills apiece from Kyle Zeman and Michael May and five from Patrick Meadie - got within 19-15 in the second set on a block by Meadie. But Bennett (kill) and DeBoer (2 aces, kill) dominated the next four points.
McDonald hammered home the winner after a dish from Cory Levin (18 of 19, 10 assists).
"We were a little anxious. It's the state playoffs. One and done," Curry said. "We had a (big) crowd for the first time all year. Some of the friends were here, and that's different. It was the biggest crowd of the year, and it takes a while to get used to that."
Lem Turner pounded a team-best 7 kills for Vernon Hills. Chris Winter added 3 kills and 2 blocks.
Carmel (18-13) also received 20 assists and 5 digs from Drew Mehigan, whose night also included a back-to-the-net dink that landed for a kill.
"We did the things we wanted to do," Carmel coach Kevin Nylen said. "We played them tough. The difference was little mistakes. They weren't egregious things. It wasn't like our serving was bad. It was these little things - little moments - that great teams take advantage of."