An Ellis family member has usually been on the court when good things have happened for Vernon Hills in recent seasons.
When the Cougars went to the state quarterfinals in 2021, Ryan Ellis was one of their top hitters.
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Then Noah Ellis helped Vernon Hills win its second consecutive Central Suburban North title last year.
Noah Ellis, a 6-foot-3 senior outside hitter, wants to follow in his older brother’s footsteps and lead the Cougars to a sectional title.
“I really think we have a chance to get to state,” he said. “We have a lot of weapons, and we have a lot of depth. This is really a balanced team.”
Ellis led the way at the net on Wednesday as Vernon Hills showed off that balance in a 25-19, 25-17 victory against Warren in Gurnee.
Ellis had seven kills, just like he did in the Cougars’ season-opening win against Lakes on Tuesday, and senior middle hitter David Rzepa also had seven.
“We have a lot of guys who can play different positions and get the job done,” Ellis said. “We have good setters and liberos to make the hitters’ jobs easier.”
Longtime Vernon Hills coach Chris Curry has used numerous players in the first two matches of the season.
“We played all 13 guys against Lakes, and we used 12 of 13 (Wednesday),” he said. “There has not been that much drop-off when we put different guys in — just everyone getting used to playing beside different people.
“We are trying to see what combinations work best, and we have time to do that right now.”
Vernon Hills (2-0) will take a step up in competition this weekend when Sandburg, Barrington, Glenbrook North, Palatine and Brother Rice come to town for an invitational.
“That competition will put us under a different kind of pressure than we’ve seen so far this season,” Curry said. “It will be interesting to see how we handle it and what we learn from it.”
Ellis thinks his team will continue to get better as the season progresses.
“We want to win conference for a third time, so we need to keep everyone on the same page,” he said. “We have some good young players who are going to be important for our success. We have a lot of confidence in them.”
Warren was playing for the first time under new coach Brianne Honda, who has spent the past few seasons as a junior varsity coach.
“Considering we only have three returning players, I thought we did some good things for our first match against a tough team like Vernon Hills,” she said.
Senior Alec Dangel, who had four kills, and freshman Joel Paasch, who had three, showed promise for the Blue Devils up front.
“We need to work on our passing, which is always a key to success,” Honda said. “Vernon Hills had a lot of good servers that kept us on our heels a bit.”
Juniors Brian Kim, Ben Miller and Max Adkisson have been impressive at times for Vernon Hills.
“Our younger guys are just going to keep things going in the right direction for this program,” Ellis said.
One of Vernon Hills’ younger players to watch is Ellis’ younger brother Parker, a sophomore on the JV team.
“I joke with Ryan and Noah that the best Ellis brother hasn’t played for me yet,” Curry said. “Really, the whole family is great, starting with their parents. It’s been a pleasure to coach them all these years, and it looks like it isn’t going to stop anytime soon.”
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Darren Day is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.