Boys volleyball: Lake Forest downs Stevenson in 3

Everyone in attendance got their money's worth Wednesday night at Stevenson High School.

Both the boys volleyball teams from Lake Forest and Stevenson let it all fly.

However on this night, one Thomas Finn of the home-standing Patriots stood out.

One statistic stands out for the Patriots' senior. He has served 283 times this season. And he has missed on just 10 of those serves.

"I'm not a captain but my role is to set an example,'' Finn said. "I play as hard as I can and keep the energy up. I love every second of volleyball. It's a stress reliever, especially from school."

Lake Forest and Stanford-bound Kevin Lamp was the guest. And it went to the wire. Lamp was injured in the third set but the Scouts survived 23-25, 25-23, 25-22.

Both teams finished 6-1 in the North Suburban Conference standings.

The Scouts (23-11) had a 17-14 lead in the opening set. And then Mr. Reliable Server, Finn, went into the role. He took advantage of two Lake Forest mistakes and had a block from Will Sorenson and a kill from Gavin Meng (10 kills). The Pats had the lead, 19-18.

"Our team knows when he (Finn) goes in to serve, we are going to get some points,'' said Stevenson coach Eric Goolish.

Samuel Epstein closed the first set at the line for the Pats. He received a block from Justin Ross.

The second set was tied at 19-19 on a kill from Finn. The senior had 8 kills on the night.

There were more ties late in this set. And then Lamp went into serve for the Scouts. He had an ace as the Scouts survived.

Lamp iced his knee in the third set. Stevenson (26-7) surged to a 12-9 lead behind kills from Meng and Daniel Prindiville.

"We just needed to stay composed in that third set," Finn said.

The final set was knotted at 21-21.

"When it goes to a third set, it's pretty much a coin flip,'' Goolish said.

Setter Thomas Keevins had 3 kills, 20 assists and 10 digs for Stevenson. Sorenson had 9 digs and 6 assists. Ross had 3 kills.