Prospect's victory heats up East race
The hotly contested Mid-Suburban East boys volleyball race got a little hotter Tuesday night.
Playing on its home floor, Prospect rallied to stun first-place Buffalo Grove 21-25, 25-15, 26-24 at Jean Walker Field House in Mt. Prospect.
The Knights improved to 5-3 in conference while Buffalo Grove fell to 6-2.
The outcome, combined with Hersey's victory over Rolling Meadows, leaves the Bison and Huskies tied for the league lead with two matches left.
Thursday's East Division matches are Hersey at Elk Grove, Rolling Meadows at Prospect and Wheeling at Buffalo Grove before a final set of games Tuesday with Prospect at Elk Grove, Rolling Meadows at Buffalo Grove and Wheeling at Hersey.
"We loosened up," said Prospect coach Mike Riedy when asked the reason for the Knights' comeback. "We play better when we're loose, and in the first and second games we were wound up as tight as a three-day clock."
"In the third game we decided to come out and play as good as we know how to play."
Alex Blethen led Prospect with 15 kills while BG libero Tullio Ruscitti kept the Bison in the match with a mark of 46-for-49 on serve receive to go along with 12 digs and numerous diving saves.
"I thought both teams played well," said Buffalo Grove coach Tim Kosiek. "We know Prospect is a very strong team. They were amazing in the second game and their defense was outstanding all night.
"This is the kind of match you wish you could play over and over again. Both teams were battling at the end, going for kills and trying to do whatever they could to win. This is what volleyball is all about."
The first game was tied at 20 when kills from Athan Cruz and Kevin Shanahan gave control to BG.
The Bison took Game 1 on another Shanahan kill, and then the hitting of senior Eryk Krzyzak led the Knights to the Game 2 win.
The deciding game stood at 23-23 when a Blethen kill pushed the Knights to match point.
After a side out, Blethen slammed home another kill and Dane Schweinzger (9 kills) got the game-winner in the middle.
"We're a high-energy team," Krzyzak said. "But we were making some uncharacteristic mistakes in the first game. We didn't let that get us down, and that short term memory loss helped us. They (BG) beat us bad last time, so we got a little revenge."
Cruz, Alex Franz and Brendan Ward had 6 kills apiece for BG, while Krzyzak swatted 10 for Prospect.
Krzyzak said a change in tactics after the first set helped the Knights, who improved to 18-12 overall.
"We started to serve more aggressively," the senior said. "We had seen some passing errors they had made on a couple of rotations and we tried to exploit that."
Blethen, who had an outstanding match on attack, also led the Knights with 13 digs, impressing coach Riedy.
"Teams have been targeting his serve receive recently," Riedy said. "So he's made a point to improve and not go out there and be the weak link. "And as far as his hitting - well, tonight he was out of his mind."