Vernon Hills, Antioch win titles
The hosts could boast.
Vernon Hills' girls volleyball team won its own Cougar Classic on Saturday, going 5-0.
The Cougars took the championship with a 25-14, 25-12 win over Carmel.
Vernon Hills (12-3) beat Glenbrook North 25-16, 25-20 in the semifinals after recording pool-play wins over Buffalo Grove (25-19, 26-24), Lake Park (25-14, 25-15) and Deerfield (25-20, 25-16).
Vernon Hills' statistical leaders included Nora Snyder (33 kills, 8 aces), Alla Krashevsky (9 blocks), Alana Coy (63 assists) and Amy Choi (60 digs).
Carmel outlasted Buffalo Grove in the semifinals 27-26, 21-25, 15-7.
Lakes invitational: Antioch won the title with a 5-0 mark, while Grayslake North and Lakes each went 3-2. Grayslake Central was 2-3.
Antioch claimed wins over Wilmot (25-21, 25-17), Grayslake North (25-13, 25-20), Lakes (25-22, 24-26, 15-11), Ridgewood (27-26, 25-19) and Grayslake Central (26-27, 25-22, 15-7).
Lakes' Mandy Fischer and Shanna Hertz slammed 20 kills apiece. Fischer also had 21 blocks and 11 aces.
"Mandy Fischer had an outstanding performance in all area," Lakes coach Carla Thompson said.
Lakes (4-5) also got 37 assists and 6 aces from Kailey Molloy, while Rachel Sieracke lofted 36 assists. Hertz led the Eagles with 11 digs.
"We had a very well-rounded effort from the whole team," Thompson said. "We had fun and worked well together. This team is coming together and we get better each match."
Grayslake North coach Nikki Kirchway was proud of her team's resiliency in wins over Lakes (25-15, 25-20) and Ridgewood (20-25, 25-14, 16-14). The Knights trailed Lakes 7-2 in the second game. They trailed Ridgewood 13-11 in the third game.
"We really demonstrated how much we wanted to win with a team total of 183 digs and 80 kills for the day," Kirchway said.
Sarah Walker had 38 kills and 43 digs for Grayslake North. Brianna Leon and Kinsey Siler slammed 16 and 13 kills, respectively. Kaitlyn Woodward and Lauren Trahan dished out 35 and 33 assists, respectively. Siler, Woodward and Kayla Huck served 4 aces apiece. Siler also posted 6 blocks. Raquel Ness chipped in 3 aces, as did Trahan and Walker.
"We played well throughout the day and showed confidence and amazing teamwork and ability," Kirchway said. "This weekend's tournament was another great confidence boost for the girls."
Grayslake Central (6-8) was led by Klaudia Basierak's 30 kills, 9 blocks and 4 aces. Lydia Boyle had 20 kills, 9 aces and 5 blocks, and Lucy Peterson added 18 kills and 11 blocks.
"Our youth showed through at times," Rams coach Jason Janczak said. "We couldn't close out against the teams we needed to close out against."