Boys volleyball: Best-ever state finish for Vernon Hills

Forget for a moment that one-sided loss to state champion Glenbard West. The Cougars of Vernon Hills were not really in that match.

Now, the semifinal match on Saturday morning? That's something for the Cougars to remember.

Sandburg came into it riding a 28-game winning streak. The Eagles had four players taller than 6-foot-4.

But Vernon Hills (31-10) met the challenge, prevailing 25-23, 20-25, 25-23 to earn a berth in the state championship match for the first time in program history.

"That was such a great team win,'' said Vernon Hills coach Chris Curry. "It just wasn't one guy. That was the best feeling ever. What a great group of guys."

OK, clearly, Glenbard West was the favorite heading into the title match on Saturday. On-back-to back kills from Vernon Hills' Ian Thoren and Jared Bennett, the first set was knotted at 2-2. It was close early, but then the Hilltoppers (40-2) pulled away. The final scores were 25-15, 25-13.

"That was kind of embarrassing,'' said Vernon Hills senior Lem Turner. "Give Glenbard West credit. But we weren't even supposed to get here."

On May 16, Glenbard West beat Vernon Hills 25-13, 25-11 so the Cougars knew this was a big challenge.

"They are very, very good,'' Curry said. "We had a really good game plan but they were too good. We were the seventh seed, so this was pretty much an upset situation."

Set two was very similar to the first-set loss. The Hilltoppers opened a quick 5-1 lead. Turner played well for the Cougars in defeat. He led the team with 9 kills. Bennett finished with 7 kills. The winners were led by 10 kills from Jackson Nagle.

Second place in the state is still a very good thing. And the Vernon Hills crowd was in attendance to cheer the team on.

"Our crowd was amazing,'' Dylan DeBoer said. "It was pretty fun."

After watching DeBoer's dominating performance in Friday's win over O'Fallon, Curry was happy to see his team spread out the hitting in the key win over Sandburg.

Turner led the way with 12 kills. Johnny McDonald and DeBoer had 7 kills each. Bennett had 5 kills and 19 assists. Libero Alon Polischuk led the defense with 8 digs.

To say the Sandburg game was tight is an understatement. There were 23 ties and 14 lead changes.

Curry will have a tough time saying so long to this group. Thoren was a freshman B player and ended up starting for the second-place team in the state. Enrique Limon served once against Glenbard West. He was cut from this team three years in a row before sticking his senior season.

"And remember, we have 1,300 kids in our school, not 3,000,'' Curry said. "And of those 1,300, a lot of them are short. This is great. We expect to be here every year. But if we don't get back, it's been a great experience."

At least two of the Cougars stars will play volleyball in college. Turner will play at Ball State while DeBoer heads East to the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J.