Devils prevail in two

Host Mundelein showed a lot of promise Wednesday night against Warren in the teams' North Suburban Conference Lake Division boys volleyball opener.

Mundelein's young squad fell to the Blue Devils 32-30 in a marathon battle to start the match.

Then the Mustangs (3-4) jumped out to an early 11-9 advantage in the second game.

Warren (6-2) finally put everything together after that point of the match, as the Blue Devils rolled 25-18 to capture the victory in comfortable fashion.

Warren had a seemingly comfortable 23-17 lead in Game 1, only to see Mundelein's Tyler Emde roll off 6 straight service points for a 24-23 lead.

A big spike by Warren's Mike McNally forced a 24-24 deadlock before a big hit by the Blue Devils' Ryan Schuette (11 kills) forced a 30-30 tie in the pressure-packed game.

Schuette (3 aces) served out the first game as the Mustangs never returned service on game point for the Blue Devils' narrow escape.

"In the first game our serve reception was really poor and we could not run our offense," said the 6-foot-5 Schuette. "But in the second game our serve reception came through and we were able to set up our higher level plays."

Warren's Mike McGowan (4 kills) really got the Blue Devils going in the second game, as his 6 straight service points gave the visitors a commanding 20-13 lead with great support from teammate Tyler Schwede during the rally.

"Out of the 30 points Mundelein scored (in Game 1) we had 16 errors, and if you give them those free points they're going to stay right with you," said Warren coach Yun Chen. "The energy that the bench brought us in the second game really helped the guys on the court and Ryan (Schuette) had a big game."

Mundelein's attack was led by Nick Faghihi with 8 kills, Mitchell Baumgartner with 5 kills, and Patrick Lentz with 3 kills.

Tim Tokarz had a team-high 17 assists for the Mustangs.

Jeff Halvorsen led the Blue Devils with 17 assists. David Schweitzer dished 11 assists.

After a 13-13 tie, Mundelein was outscored 12-5 with a spike by Warren's Derrick Norris closing out the match.

"We started placing the ball well in the deep corners of the court and once we got close it was anybody's game in the first game," said Mundelein coach George Dressen Jr. "We have five sophomores on the roster, four which get playing time, and as long as we play with strong confidence we're able to play with any team."