Boys volleyball: Libertyville keeps rolling, downs Wheaton North in state quarterfinal
The bus was small.
Cozy, Libertyville coach Jenny Smith called it Friday morning after her Wildcats motored to Bolingbrook for a boys volleyball state quarterfinal against Wheaton North.
A few hours later, nobody seemed to mind the tight squeeze home.
Libertyville survived a blistering opening set from Wheaton North senior Aidan Syswerda, regrouped after losing the opening set for the first time this postseason and rode balance, composure and timely swings to a 23-25, 25-19, 25-21 victory over the Falcons.
And now?
The Wildcats hope to roll some more.
Libertyville (32-3) advances to a state semifinal against Glenbard West (37-2) at 10 a.m. Saturday. Wheaton North, which entered Friday on a 14-match winning streak, finished 35-6.
“We’ve been promised a bigger bus tomorrow,” Smith said with a smile.
The Wildcats earned it with resilience and depth.
With Libertyville trailing 12-10 in the decisive third set, Smith called a timeout. Nothing dramatic. Nothing theatrical.
Necessary.
The Wildcats returned to the court and immediately delivered a 3-0 burst to seize momentum in a set that had featured no 3-point lead by either side until late.
“We were down only 2, and that was the time to understand that we could trust each other to win this,” Libertyville senior libero Jackson Kern said after collecting a match-high 11 digs and 5 assists. “The message before returning to the court was, ‘We’re ready for this. Let’s go out and do it.’’’
They did.
Senior outside hitter Braden Moss led Libertyville hammered 15 kills, including 7 in the opening set, while adding 5 digs and 2 aces. His .429 hitting percentage glimmered.
So did his timing.
Moss crushed an emphatic down-the-line kill for match point in the third set before senior Lukas Slesers ended the Falcons’ season with a kill moments later.
“This feels great, getting to a semi,” Moss said. “Many of us started playing volleyball together when we were 13. A lot of chemistry — that helped us all year. So did energy. We’ll celebrate this win, and we’ll do it loudly. Saturday, we get to compete again.”
Libertyville never leaned on one star for too long.
That has been part of its strength all season.
Senior Connor Desiron added 10 kills and 5 digs, Slesers finished with 8 kills and 10 digs, junior setter Andrew Hodge distributed 33 assists and 2 aces, and Ball State commit Nate Knight contributed 7 kills.
“What impressed me most about our team was our resilience and composure,” Smith said. “After that first-set loss, we got back in it by fighting and sticking to the game plan.
“Our message all day was, ‘Hey, this is just another match.’”
It certainly didn’t feel ordinary early.
WN’s Syswerda erupted for 11 kills in the first set alone, punctuating it with a thunderous termination on set point. The 6-foot-6 outside hitter finished with a match-high 20 kills and added 8 digs.
Magnificent.
Wheaton North also got 5 kills and 5 digs from Peter Dey, 18 assists and 7 digs from Joey Bruzdzinski, 13 assists from Owen Hubner, 8 digs from Joe Claud, 5 digs from Tomas Manrique and a match-high 3 aces from Alex Scribner.
“We had to scheme for Libertyville’s strong outside hitters and middle,” Falcons coach John Noe IV said. “In the third set, we tried to take advantage of moments — moments like ending points on blocks, following up Libertyville’s errors with points earned by us.
“What Libertyville did there in the third set was a testament to their tenacity. We battled hard; so did Libertyville.”
Libertyville fought a little harder.
The ride isn’t over yet for the Wildcats.