Boys volleyball: Dig this - Kharasch, Libertyville roll into sectional final
Libertyville senior libero Sam Kharasch said his team had to "really dig in" to stop hard-hitting Stevenson.
What a perfect way for the Wildcats' all-time leader in digs to put it.
Kharasch, who broke the 500-dig barrier for the season Friday night and has over 1,500 in his career, led an exemplary defensive effort in the Palatine sectional semifinals as top-seeded Libertyville defeated the Patriots 25-19, 25-16.
Next up for Libertyville is Hersey in a 6 p.m. Tuesday sectional final at Palatine.
"We've got one of the great liberos of all time in Sam," said Wildcats coach Jenny Smith. "He's been on varsity since his freshman season, he's got great experience and the right personality, and a very high volleyball IQ.
"We've also got another defensive specialist in Ryan Winger who's good enough to be the libero on most teams."
The Wildcats did a teriffic defensive job on 6-9 Steveson outside hitter Grant Maleski, who'd dominated the Patriots regional championship win over Palatine with 15 kills and 6 aces.
The Libertyville "D" and serve-receive in particular held Stevenson to nary a single ace Friday.
"We know Grant is a big hitter," said Libertyville senior outside hitter Drew Fortini, "and you're really not going to stop him. The best you can do is try to slow him down a little."
"We've played against each other lots of times," added Wildcats right-side Brendan Cook, "and I know he hits high, so you can't really go for the block kill against Grant. You've just got to try to get a soft block on him."
Stevenson trailed early in the first set but got as close as 12-13 after a Maleski kill.
But Libertyville quickly took control back behind the play of 6-6 middle Shane Feiereisel.
"Stevenson is a great team," said Feiereisel. "All you can do is try to slow them down and get your blocks when you can."
The Wildcats won the first set when Ryan Hirschel set Jack Stevens for the final kill, then Libertyville cruised to a 14-7 set two lead.
Some sloppy hitting by the Wildcats helped Stevenson close the gap, but Libertyville righted the ship behind 3 consecutive kills from Stevens.
Cook put down the final ball for the match win.
"I thought that we've really limited our errors the past 2 matches," said Smith, "and that's really helped us gain the upper hand. We put our guys in pressure scenarios all the time in practice and that sets them up for real-life situations."
Cook and Stevens each fnished with 7 kills for Libertyville, while Feiereisel had 5 kills on 5 hits and Hirschel finished with 25 assists.
Kharasch, who earned 8 digs Friday, was able to reflect on the difference between just starting out as a freshman, and now being the team leader as a senior.
"It used to be that I was the one looking up to guys," said Kharasch, "and now guys are looking up to me and looking to me to set the example - so I've got to be sure that I step up my game."