Boys volleyball: McDonald, Vernon Hills have winning finish against Carmel

The Carmel lead was solid at 18-15 in the decisive third set of the Highland Park regional semifinal.

And then the slugger in Vernon Hills' lineup said no more.

Johnny McDonald put on quite a hitting display in the final minutes of this dazzling match. He had 3 of his 10 kills as the Cougars (22-13) survived the Corsairs 25-21, 22-25, 25-22.

The Cougars draw Barrington on Wednesday night to decide the regional champion.

McDonald made note that the Corsairs (20-17) gave his team all it could handle on Tuesday night.

"Carmel played crazy defense,'' McDonald said. "That's a very good team. Give credit to them. It was a great match."

The Corsairs had leads in all three sets.

"It's hard," said Carmel coach Kevin Nylen. "This group stuck together as well as any group I've had."

Vernon Hills trailed for most of the final set. Carmel had big kills from Ryan Fuller and slugger Michael May and took control early at 13-9.

"Carmel played very well,'' said Vernon Hills coach Chris Curry. "But they also exposed us a little. Johnny started talking to the guys, and it helped."

Vernon Hills did not catch the Corsairs until McDonald went into his act.

"Our bench was crazy tonight,'' McDonald said. "Our team chemistry is very strong. There were a lot of long points. We just needed to keep on fighting."

The last kill of the night went to the veteran Jared Bennett. And it couldn't have felt great for this senior as he removed his bloody sock after the match.

May's serving put the Cougars on the defensive early as the Corsairs opened a 9-6 lead in the opening set. Bennett (11 kills) answered back for Vernon Hills, and he had help from Matt Kushnir (7 kills) and McDonald (11 digs).

The Cougars did not surrender the lead after this service.

Again Carmel opened up another 9-6 in the second set aided by back-to-back kills from high-leaping Patrick Meadie (6 kills). Still this set was close the entire way. On back-to-back kills from Derrick Jones and Bennett, it was knotted up at 16-16.

On another May service drill, the Corsairs opened up some breathing room.

Meadie added another kill as the Carmel lead expanded to 20-18.

Another Vernon Hills veteran, Chris Winter, checked in with 7 kills.

"In all three sets, we had leads,'' Nylen said. "We just had 2 bad points at the wrong time."

Carmel will lose eight seniors to graduation.

Next up for the Cougars is a tall and strong Barrington squad.

"Barrington is a very big team,'' Curry said. "We've been scouting them for a few weeks. They are a smart team. We will have to serve and pass better."