Boys volleyball: Lake County roundup

Vernon Hills d. Maine West: The host Cougars squared their overall record at 8-8 by picking up a Central Suburban North win over the Warriors.

"We survived some shaky early ball control, settled down, and then really had some nice offensive flow," said Vernon Hills coach Chris Curry.

John Otoo finished with 3 kills on 5 swings and Joey Reyes produced 4 on 9.

"We we started to pass with a little consistency, we were able to run the middles, and that also opened things up for Derrick Jones on the right side (9 kills on 15 swings)," Curry said.

Curry, whose team is now 1-2 in the CSL North, still wants to see his team make some net gains.

"We still need to find a way to block more consistently," he said. "It happens too rarely for us to be successful all the time."

Carmel d. Nazareth: Jackson Ptasienski had 10 kills, 8 digs and 3 aces, and the Corsairs won their East Suburban Catholic Conference opener 25-12, 25-10.

Carmel (11-4) also received contributions from Austin James (7 kills, 12 assists, 3 aces), Jordan DeGuzman (13 assists), Jimmy Harvey (4 kills), Camden Strutzel (2 kills) and Shayne Henderson (11 digs).

Lakes d. Grayslake North: Clayton Nix had 6 kills, 4 digs, 2 aces and 2 blocks for the Eagles, who won 25-22, 25-18 to go to 8-12 overall and 3-1 in the Northern Lake County Conference.

Lakes also got contributions from Connor Clowers (3 kills, 5 digs, 1 ace), Tyler Donovan (14 assists, 1 ace), Broderick Solbrig (2 kills, 4 digs), Ethan Metzelaar (3 kills) and Eric Jones (6 digs).