Boys volleyball: Barrington gets better of Lake Park

Lake Park and Barrington have locked up in some epic battles over the years, including a memorable state quarterfinal thriller in 2012.

So why should Friday's first-round match at the Tiger Classic in Wheaton be any different?

Lake Park rallied from a first-game loss to take down Barrington 25-12 in Game 2, then overcame an early 10-6 deficit to build a seemingly safe 24-20 advantage in the third game.

But the Broncos' Stephen Wanca served four straight service points to tie the match, and two Lake Park errors and a kill by 6-6 junior middle Josh Babicz gave Barrington a 25-21, 12-25, 27-25 victory.

Lake Park (1-1) will play Neuqua Valley in a Silver Division quarterfinal at noon Saturday.

"Barrington and us have a history together," said Lake Park coach Tim Murphy. "We're familiar with each other's players. We're familiar with each other's coaches. It was a great match. Both teams played really hard. Both teams made a few too many unforced errors.

"It's really who makes fewer errors at the end, and it was definitely them," he added. "They executed and capitalized on some opportunities. We didn't capitalize on the same opportunities."

However, there were plenty of bright spots for the Lancers.

"I like that we play defense," Murphy said. "That we never give up. It's our first match of the season and I think there were some first-game jitters. I like that we played together and we made some plays. We were scrappy and we hustled. As long as they give everything they have out there, I can work with them and get them in the right spots and doing the right things."

Six-foot-3 middle hitter Will Moore and Jack Fischer each had 8 kills for the Lancers, who also got 7 kills and 2 blocks from 6-6 sophomore Nick Martinski.

"We expect big things from Nick," Murphy said. "He also has some ball control, some passing and some setting ability. We're hoping in the future to challenge him a little more."

Junior Justin Yost, whose brother Jeff played on the Lancers' 2014 team that beat Barrington in the sectional finals, had 24 assists for Lake Park.

"We had all the energy going our way and it felt like our offense was just flowing," said Yost, who was elevated to varsity late last year as a defensive specialist. "We saw that they were bigger than us, but we played scrappy. We executed when we needed to, but sometimes it didn't go our way."

Barrington (6-2) got 7 blocks and 7 kills from Babicz, 9 kills and 2 aces from 6-6 outside hitter Joe Roeckell and 6 kills and 4 blocks from 6-8 outside hitter Ethan Carroll.

"Lake Park does a lot of things right," Barrington coach Rob Ridenour said. "That's the most impressive thing about them. Tim Murphy-coached teams seem to be low-error. They seem to make the right play. They did that again tonight."