Boys volleyball: WW South takes 2nd at Vernon Hills

It's not every day a coach gets the chance to become the state's all-time leader in victories.

And even though Wheaton Warrenville South's Bill Schreier is right on the threshold of being tied with former Brother Rice coach Paul Ickes with 551 career wins, it's something he'd just as soon downplay.

"It's more of a longevity award," joked Schreier, whose top-seeded Tigers fell a little short to Sandburg, 25-21, 25-9 in the title match of the Barrington-Vernon Hills tournament on Saturday afternoon at Vernon Hills.

"It'll be nice when it happens but right now it's about us getting better as a team. Sandburg played consistent and they got balls up. There were a lot of positives that happened this weekend. We really need to work on our first ball contacts but to get this far (in this event) was good for us."

Overall, Schreier's program has produced seven state titles over the years and the Tigers currently stand at 5-2 on the young season after Saturday. His next chance to break the record will be next weekend when the Tigers host their own tournament.

In the interim, Wheaton Warrenville South raced out to a 4-1 lead in the first game but a kill by 6-11 senior outside hitter Jake Hanes put Sandburg up for what turned out to be for good at 5-4.

Trailing 24-16, the Tigers made a ferocious comeback. Kills by senior hitters Plamen Pavlov and Zack Meyer, along with senior Mark Harrison accounting for 4 service points, helped cut the deficit to 24-21. But another blasting kill by Hanes ended the first game.

"We were just hanging in there in that first game," said Meyer, who was named to the all-tournament team after finishing with 9 kills and 1 block against Sandburg. "We just fell apart and had no communication in the second game. Usually a big play gets us going but we didn't have that in the title match. After losing, though, we have that much more incentive to work harder in practice."

Sandburg left no doubt in the second game in jumping to a 21-6 lead to cruise to the 25-9 win and ultimately the title.

Top performers against Sandburg included Harrison with 7 kills, senior outside hitter Adam Mrzlak 7 digs, and junior setter Alex Carr dishing out 21 assists.

Barrington finished 3-2 to start the year.

After coming up short to Lincoln-Way East 25-20, 25-20 in the third-place match, the Broncos finished a very respectable fourth in the 16-team event.

"This is always a quality event with quality teams," said Barrington coach Rob Ridenour, whose team picked up wins against Naperville North, Loyola and Warren along the way. "We learned a lot about ourselves and how hard we're going to have to work."

For the five games, senior hitter Joe Roeckell pounded out 26 kills, while senior opposite hitter Mikey Stefan added 20 kills and senior outside hitter Ethan Carroll 19.

Senior setter Jack Ridgway dished out 47 assists over the five games, while senior libero Justin Tiao served 4 aces.

Host Vernon Hills graduated 9 seniors from last year's state runner-up team but coach Chris Curry has reason for optimism and the direction the Cougars are heading in the early going.

"It was positive for us in that we competed with a purpose," said Curry, whose team was 1-4 in the event after falling in a grueling 25-18, 16-25, 28-26 3-setter to Naperville North in the 11th place match.

"We're still figuring out our rotations and most positions are still open. We really need someone to step up and be a consistent pass-server for us."

Johnny McDonald (39 kills) and Jared Bennett (33 kills) led the hitting charge, while McDonald and Matt Kushnir each had 4 service points. McDonald was all over the place as well to the tune of 37 digs, while setters Matt Fiarito dished out 65 assists and Bennett 33 over the 5 games.

Hanes of Sandburg was the tournament MVP, while all-tournament honors went to outside hitter Nate Amos of Lake Zurich, setter Grant Burden of Sandburg, Meyer and setter Alex Carr of Wheaton Warrenville South, outside hitter Ethan Carroll of Barrington, Deerfield middle hitter Jacob Shapiro, outside hitter Ryan Gardner of Loyola, Brother Rice outside hitter Steve Lona, and Lincoln-Way East libero Eric Van Dyck.