Boys volleyball: Barrington, Libertyville to meet for Grant sectional title
The local coaches can take a bow.
The top two teams they seeded in the Grant sectional will meet for the sectional crown on Tuesday night in Fox Lake.
And both clubs come in with the exact same record, 33-5.
It's Michael O'toole, Gabe Hartke and libero Chris Babicz of Barrington, and Jack Stevens, Brendan Cook and libero Ryan Winiger of Libertyville.
Neither team had an easy night on Friday. Upstart Carmel had an 18-17 lead in set one with the Broncos. Libertyville and Lake Forest were tied at 27-27 in the first set. Barrington's offense oulasted Carmel's defense, 25-20, 25-19.
"Give Carmel credit,'' said Barrington coach Rob Ridenour. "Their defense was really good."
"They were really scrappy,'' Hartke said. "They were a fun team to play."
Carmel (22-12) was fresh off an upset of Stevenson and enjoying it first regional crown in 14 seasons.
"We had one practice and then had to take on one of the best teams in the state,'' said Carmel coach Kevin Nylen.
Again, it was anyone's set in the early going. On back-to-back kills from Jackson Ptasienski, Carmel was up 17-16.
Hartke answered for Barrington. He notched a pair of aces down the stretch.
"Gabe was really good tonight,'' Ridenour said. "Those 4 aces he had were key."
Babicz was at the serving line in set two when the Broncos stretched the lead. He was aided by two O'toole kills and a block from Petar Lumovic.
Babicz is one libero with hitting experience.
"I played outside on the JV team,'' he said. "I changed to be the libero."
Babicz was quick to credit teammate Hartke on this night.
"He makes everybody better,'' he said. "You want to be like Gabe."
With setter Evan Carroll at the line, the Barrington lead swelled to 20-13. James Harvey and Ptasienski had kills late as Carmel pulled within 24-19.
"We had 10 seniors this year,'' Nylen said. "I had great kids this year.''
O'toole finished with 7 kills for Barrington. Hartke added 4 killls. Carroll notched 20 assists. Ptasienski led the Carmel attack with 8 kills, 6-foot-7 middle blocker, Micheal Scott added 5 kills. Setter Austin James shrugged off an injury and notched 20 assists.
Libertyville d. Lake Forest: Twenty kills? Who gets 20 kills in one two-set match?
Why, Jack Stevens does.
The question remains, though: Is this the same Lake Forest team that the Cats handled at home earlier in the year?
Yes, it is. And the Scouts have an gifted outside hitter as well named Kevin Lamp.
"He's outstanding,'' Stevens said of Lamp. "I used to play all the time with him."
Neither team could break away in the long first set. The favored Cats trailed 23-20. Again, the powerful Stevens answered for Libertyville.
Cook, too, knows all about the Lake Forest junior, Lamp.
"He was a setter in club,'' Cook said. "He's always been good. Hey, it's the playoffs."
The second set was close as well. The Cats trailed 10-8 after a hard kill from Lake Forest middle blocker Kyle Waggoner
Stevens notched an ace at the serving line as the Cats opened a 21-18 lead.
In addition to Stevens' crazy 20 kills, Cook had 5 kills. Zach Ford had 4 blocks. Colin Hawkinson had 9 digs and Winiger had 8 digs. Setter Carter Schaffnit had 24 assists.