Boys volleyball: Vernon Hills falls to Glenbrook North

Here's the tale of the left-handed server.

He's Vernon Hills junior Cedric Bennett.

There was one highlight for the Cougars in the opening set on Wednesday night at Vernon Hills.

Visiting Glenbrook North had strolled quickly to a 14-7 lead in the opening set of the Central Suburban North boys volleyball match.

And then Bennett brought in his lefty serve.

Jack McDonald (11 kills) put one down. And then it was Bennett's turn. He had a net ace. He had a regular ace. McDonald issued a block. The Glenbrook North lead was down to 18-13.

"I serve from the left side,'' Bennett said. "It puts pressure on them because they have to go across their body to make the play."

Still it looked over after the Spartans ran off with a 25-17 win in set one.

But Vernon Hills (10-7) did not fold its tent. The Cougars came back in the second set to edge the Spartans, 25-23.

The third set went to the wire as well.

"When you are up 23-21, you have to find a way to finish,'' said Vernon Hills coach, Chris Curry. "But that was the best we've played all year."

The Spartans survived, 25-17, 23-25, 25-23.

With Sammy Adkisson serving in the second set, Josh Ludolph checked in with a block and a kill.

"I just love this team,'' Ludolph said. "We're still working on staying confident. We want to be resilient."

Enter the southpaw server, Bennett. He stretched the second set lead to 15-13 aided by two Spartan errors and another McDonald kill.

With Krys Han (10 kills) at the serving line for the Cougars, the lead stretched to 22-19. Another McDonald kill closed the second set.

There were seven ties in the final set.

"We were tentative in that first set,'' Curry noted. "We missed some serves. But we really turned it around."

Adkisson entered the Vernon Hills record book with his 18 digs. That's 19 years of boys volleyball at VH. His record is 815 for his career.

Ludolph had 3 kills and 3 blocks for the Cougars. Setters Noah Proft and EJ Demas led the way with 9 assists each.