Barrington tops Palatine in West showdown

With first place in the Mid-Suburban League West boys volleyball race on the line, host Barrington was motivated to play a strong match Tuesday night against Palatine.

After struggling through a hard-fought 25-22 victory over the Pirates in the first game, the Broncos really got rolling in the second set en route to an impressive 25-16 victory and a spot at the top of the division standings.

Barrington (15-1, 5-0) was in a 15-15 deadlock with Palatine (17-4, 4-1) in the opening set before the serving of sophomore Conner Shoults started to turn the tide in the Broncos' favor.

A backward tap-shot by Barrington's Josh Babicz made the score 18-15 before Shoults added another service point to give the Broncos their biggest lead at 19-15.

Trailing 24-21, the Pirates hung tough with a spike by senior team captain Ryan Campbell (9 kills) staving off set point to pull to within 24-22.

But Barrington senior team captain Noah Ricchetti (22 assists) came through with a huge block on the next point to seal the Broncos' 25-22 win.

Game 2 started off pretty well for Palatine with 2 service points by senior Ryan Frankel staking the Pirates to an early 5-4 advantage.

But that small window of momentum did not last long at all for the Pirates.

Back-to-back aces by Ricchetti helped Barrington start to pull away with an 11-7 lead.

Then the Broncos' aggressive, attacking offense took control of the match as a kill by senior Justin Glader (5 kills) and a Palatine violation boosted the lead to 14-9.

Barrington 6-foot-7 junior Ethan Carroll had a huge night with 10 kills on 13-for-15 hitting, including a spike that gave the Broncos a 20-14 lead late in the second game.

Junior Adam Glader also got into the act for Barrington with 4 kills while Ricchetti added 3 kills.

"We served a lot better in game two and that really allowed us to keep the momentum going," said Barrington coach Rob Ridenour, whose team will have a rematch at Palatine in a few weeks. "Ethan (Carroll) was great tonight. I think that might have been his best offensive game of the year, and he made a really good defensive adjustment on Campbell in game two."

A kill by Babicz increased the lead to 21-14 before another spike by Carroll made the score 24-16.

That set the stage for match point which Ricchetti closed out with one of his 3 aces.

"It was a great team effort, and we came out strong from beginning to end against a tough team," said Carroll, who also led his team with 8 digs. "We like to stick to our strong offense and our height really helps with that, and we need to stick with our strong defense."

The Pirates missed the presence of key senior Tyler Kendzior, who did not play due to illness.

But Palatine did get solid contributions from Boldog with 5 kills and 10 assists and O'Shea with 3 kills.

"I think they (Barrington) served really tough which I think is something we struggled with," said Palatine coach Frank Stark, whose team struggled with its own serving. "And they're just a really strong all-around team. And No. 14 (Justin Glader) is just a really smart hitter which makes him twice as effective."

While Ridenour was very happy with the victory and his squad's performance, he knows there is still a lot of work to do as the remainder of the 2015 season unfolds.

"There's a lot of matches left but it's nice to be sitting here at 5-0 halfway through," Ridenour added. "And I'm sure Palatine will be gunning for us the next time around."

The Broncos' height and leaping ability will make them a tough opponent.

They start 6-foot-8 T.J. Murray, 6-7 Carroll, 6-6 Babicz and 6-5 Glader. Adam Glader and Ricchetti are both listed at 6-foot-3.

Buffalo Grove d. Rolling Meadows: The MSL East leaders stayed unbeaten in the division by topping the Mustangs 25-18, 25-18.

Athan Cruz had 5 kills and Alex Pietras 4 for the Bison (18-3, 5-0), while Zach Schnittker had 12 assists and Tulio Ruscitti had 5 digs.

Trevor Glasgow had 4 kills to lead Meadows, and Jose Cruz had a team-best 11 digs and Enrique Avellaneda provided 9 assists.

Hersey d. Wheeling: Angelo Coniglio and Bart Migus finished with 9 kills apiece, while Payton Haas ran the offense (27 assists) and Migus provided 6 blocks to help Hersey (10-3, 3-2) prevail 25-21, 25-8.

Matt Schiferl had 17 digs and Alex Rybak had a team-best 4 kills for Wheeling (3-18, 0-5).

Hoffman Estates d. Conant: The Hawks pulled out a close one in MSL West play, edging the Cougars 22-25, 25-20, 25-22.

Conant's leaders included J.T. Levitt (26 digs), Chris Wegenek (11 kills) and Nate Armando (31 assists).