Boys volleyball: South Elgin takes 3rd, Barrington 5th at Vernon Hills invite
The ninth annual Barrington-Vernon Hills Invitational had some dramatic finishes for area boys volleyball teams Saturday afternoon at Vernon Hills.
Brother Rice (8-1) won the championship of the 12-team tournament with an exciting 25-22 victory over Sandburg (6-1) in the third set to take home the team title.
In the third-place match, No. 12-ranked South Elgin (6-3) fell to No.19 Lane Tech (8-2) 25-15, 22-25, 25-21 as the Storm held a 7-1 lead early in the third set.
Senior Luka Jovanovic was named to the all-tournament team after recording 12 kills and 12 digs against Lane Tech. South Elgin got 10 kills from Emilio Martinez, 9 kills from Ethan Howell, and 19 assists from Damian Howell. Jadian Arias added 10 assists for the Storm while Brady Melvin had 8 digs.
"He (Jovanovic) worked hard in the off-season and you can see the difference in him this year," said South Elgin coach Karen Rodriguez, whose team beat Loyola 26-24, 27-25 on Friday, but lost to Brother Rice in two sets in the semifinals. "I'm still trying to find out my combinations, and today we struggled shutting down the middles on both sides."
Barrington (5-1) defeated Glenbrook North 25-21, 25-18 to take fifth place. Senior all-tournament team selection Sam Grozdic and senior Matt Louis had 9 kills each for the Broncos against the Spartans. Sophomore Matt Kravstov had 6 kills in that match. Teammates Aidan Gilmore and Oliver Halvey had 7 and 5 digs, respectively.
"We played much better in the last match, and when we dig the ball well we're strong offensively," said Barrington coach Charlie Spry, whose team went 3-1 in the tourney (only loss was to Lane Tech on Friday). "I'm really proud of our sophomore Matt (Kravstov), he's really playing well, and Sam Grozdic played really well with Matt Louis."
Warren (3-3) beat the host Cougars (1-4) 25-20, 25-23 to take seventh place. Warren's Joel Paasch and Vernon Hills' Liam Boehme were named to the all-tourney team.
"We tried a different lineup in that last set and we have a very deep team," said Warren coach Kim Paasch. "Wesley Cowell led us on a big serve run to come back in that second set, and it's a really good start to our season."
Boehme had 33 kills in the tourney followed by teammates Julian Rodriguez (24 kills), and Sam Ryniec (18 kills). "Everyone knows he (Boehme) is our best attack option, and he has our best hitting percentage," said Vernon Hills coach Chris Curry. "We are inconsistent, and I think that is our biggest struggle when teams are on a big run it is hard to get the momentum back."
Fremd (3-3) beat crosstown rival Palatine (1-5) 26-24, 13-25, 28-26 in a wild finish for 11th place. Senior Ethan Garst led the Vikings with 12 kills and 8 digs while teammate Alex Ma had 8 kills. Fremd's Aarav Parikh had 11 assists while Martin Hristov had 9 digs.
"Palatine has phenomenal defense, and you have to work so hard to put the ball down on them," said Fremd coach Tracy Harding. "We're a young team with only one returning starter so it's a big learning curve for us right now."