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Threes favor Palatine in close match with Fremd

Good things, as they say, frequently come in threes.

Unfortunately, so do mistakes.

Fremd found that out the hard way while Palatine learned the lesson the winning way in a evenly played Mid-Suburban West boys volleyball match Tuesday on the Pirates' home court.

Three late net serves from the Vikings in the first set cost Fremd game one, while a trifecta of service aces by Palatine junior Jake Boldog in set two led the Pirates to a 25-23, 25-21 victory.

Tyler Kendzior had 7 kills and 2 blocks for Palatine while Vikings junior Tyler Larson was outstanding with 11 kills, an ace, 4 assists and 2 blocks.

"This wasn't the prettiest of matches," said Pirates coach Frank Stark. "I'd say we got lucky. Fremd had a lot of service errors that hurt them, but we didn't have any energy. We played quiet, which is not typical of us.

"I told the guys to put a positive spin on it. We were low on energy and we still came away with a win - so imagine what we're capable of when we come out with high energy. I think they bought into that."

Fremd junior setter Eduardo Amador finished with 19 assists.

"I thought we played well," said Vikings coach Curt Pinley. "There are times when we play Palatine that their energy gets the better of us, but every time they brought the intensity, we were able to answer with intensity of our own.

"Even though we didn't come away with a win, I saw a lot of good things tonight."

With Larson leading the way on attack, Fremd hit its way to a 2-point lead in game one.

"Eddy (Amador) was doing a good job of getting the ball to Tyler", said Pinley, "and he had some big kills early that got him going."

Then two serves into the net by Fremd and block kill from Palatine freshman Johnny O'Shea turned the set around and gave the Pirates (11-3, 3-0) a 1point lead.

Fremd's third net serve saw Palatine take a one game advantage.

"Coach Stark kept telling us that we couldn't just wait for them (Fremd) to hand us the match," said O'Shea. "We had to go out there and play our game and get it done."

Game two was another nip and tuck affair until Boldog served two aces midway through to give Palatine the momentum.

A third ace from Boldog later saw the Pirates take a 19-17 lead, then a block kill and a slam by junior Zach Wheat led the home team to match point.

Almost fittingly, a final serve into the net from Fremd closed out the win for Palatine.

"It was sloppy tonight, but we'll take it," said O'Shea, one of those rare MSL freshmen who are playing and making an impact on varsity.

Senior outside hitter Ben Zimmerman swatted 8 kills for Fremd, which fell to 1-2 in conference.

Ryan Campbell added 7 kills for Palatine.

"From our very first practice this year I saw our team had potential," said Palatine junior James O'Shea, Johnny's brother.

"Now we're starting to realize that potential, and it feels great (in conference) be 3 and 0."

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