Boys volleyball: Grayslake Central tops North in 3
Keegan Zack had 14 kills, 3 aces and 10 digs, and Grayslake Central's boys volleyball team outlasted host Grayslake North 25-14, 18-25, 35-33 in a Northern Lake County Conference opener Wednesday night.
Grayslake Central (5-1) also got 5 kills from Austin Rockel, 4 from Chase Werfel and 3 from Matt Kosikowski. Kosikowski and Jake Miller had 5 and 3 blocks, respectively. Matt Kozak dished out 12 assists, and Javier Ortiz tallied 11. Jameson Loeffler led the Rams with 14 digs.
"It was a great crosstown battle," Grayslake Central coach Dan Erlenbaugh said. "Both teams played very well. It is always an exciting match when a set goes past 30 points."
Vernon Hills d. St. Viator: Drake DeBoer pounded 11 kills, John Otoo added 9, and the Cougars rallied to win 15-25, 25-21, 25-17 in nonconference action.
Vernon Hills improved to 2-5.
"That was the most unlikely win we've had in several years," coach Chris Curry said. "We were just awful in the first set. Awful. Ten hitting errors, 4 service errors, our setter getting called for almost every set. We had no life, and we were playing some really bad volleyball."
Cougars junior Cole Wharton provided a spark.
"Gotta give credit to Cole Wharton," Curry said. "He's played maybe 2 points all year, but he works harder than anyone we have and has a ton of energy. And we needed some life. So we put him in on the right side, moved DJ (Derrick Jones) over to the left, added Jake Geleerd in to the defense ... and really challenged the guys to play smarter. And to play like they cared."
Wharton got 4 kills and ended the match with a block kill.
"And screamed himself hoarse," Curry said. "He was the spark we needed. Jake Fiarito cleaned up the setting, found some life - he's been sick all week - and started connecting with the middles. John Otoo had a monster match out of the middle, and Leo Turner was finding some timely blocks."
Jones finished with 7 kills, Turner contributed 3 kills and 3 blocks, and Fiarito dished out 28 assists. Sammy Adkisson and DeBoer had 7 and 6 digs, respectively.
"We cut down the errors - just 5 in the second set and 8 in the third after 20 in the first set - and played with some real joy," Curry said. "It makes a difference. Very proud of the effort tonight, the resiliency. And now we're at least cautiously optimistic about heading to the Warren tournament this weekend."
Zion-Benton d. Mundelein: The visiting Zee-Bees prevailed in the North Suburban match 21-25, 25-11, 25-20.
Linden Ewing and Marc Rey (3 blocks) had 6 and 5 kills, respectively, for Mundelein (5-4, 0-1). The Mustangs also received 19 assists from Steven Miritello and 3 kills and 2 blocks from Jackson Steiner.