Boys volleyball: Glenbrook North outlasts Vernon Hills in state quarterfinal
It's why a game of one-one-one in the driveway against big brother can feel more intense than an actual game against an actual opponent.
Familiarity.
It's that desire to beat someone you know well.
That's how the players on both the Glenbrook North and Vernon Hills boys volleyball teams explain their wickedly intense rivalry that has spawned some of the best volleyball each program has been a part of this season.
"It's personal, on the court and off the court with those guys (from Vernon Hills)," Glenbrook North senior outside hitter Abhiram Lakkamsani said. "A lot of our guys are on the same club team as their guys. We see those guys three times a week at club practices. And when you play against them, you want to beat them so badly because you know them and you think you know what they're going to do.
"It's always fun to play them because those guys are so good. They are one of the few teams in the state that are well-coached and well-rounded, and I think we are a lot the same. It's always a battle of who (wants it) more."
This was Test No. 2.
Think your toughest AP test, but with a higher heart rate and a gym full of fans cheering loudly.
Vernon Hills entered Friday's wired IHSA state quarterfinal match against Glenbrook North at Glenbard West with a 33-1 record. Its only loss was to ... Glenbrook North, in the first week of the season.
The Cougars did everything they could to even the score, but undefeated Glenbrook North survived again to get another hard-fought win against Vernon Hills, 23-25, 25-21, 25-22.
Glenbrook North, which won its only state title in 1993, the second year of the IHSA state series for the sport, advances to Saturday's 10 a.m. semifinal against Lincoln-Way East, a 3-set winner over Lockport in Friday's first quarterfinal.
The Spartans are now 23-0 on the season.
"Glenbrook North is such a big rivalry for us because we know all of their starters, they're a bunch of our club friends, and I play beach with them over the summer almost every day," Vernon Hills senior outside hitter Jack McDonald said. "They're a great team and obviously there's a lot of emotion in it to play against your friends."
In the third set, Vernon Hills had a 20-18 lead but then Glenbrook North reeled off 6 straight points thanks to big kills from Lakkamsani and Klaud Rydzy.
Talk about emotion. The gym was rocking and rolling in it.
"The key at the end of the game there was that we got them off the net a little bit," Glenbrook North coach Chris Cooper said. "They passed really well all game, which means it was tough to figure out which hitter they were going to. But in the end, the passes were a little more off the net and that made them more predictable."
Yoel Gros topped Glenbrook North with a whopping 20 kills for the match. Lakkamsani had 8 kills and Rydzy had 7 kills.
Setter Louie Batang had 38 assists and libero Paul Wyszynski had 13 digs for Glenbrook North.
For Vernon Hills, McDonald led the way with 10 kills while Tony Mischiara added 8 kills and Erik Giezycki finished with 7.
Giezycki also had 14 assists and Kevin Schumacher had 16 assists.
Giezycki also led in digs with 7.
"This was the most fun I've ever had coaching a group of kids," said Vernon Hills coach Chris Curry, whose team finished with a 33-2 record. "Especially with not getting a season with these guys last year. Most of them were on the varsity as sophomores so we knew what we had and last year was really kind of crushing, and then all the worry about was this year going to happen or not happen. And to these guys' credit, they just kept working out and doing what they could and sticking together, and you got to see that because we got to play together for about as long as we could."