Boys volleyball: Peterson power has Fremd in fine form
The Peterson twins are helping spark a renaissance of Fremd boys volleyball.
Juniors Aaron Peterson and his brother Jacob just took up the sport in their freshman year, but now they're making their mark in their first year on varsity.
Tuesday night in Palatine, outside hitter Aaron swatted a game-high 8 kills on 15-of-16 attacking while Jacob, a setter, contributed 7 assists and 3 kills in a Vikings 25-20, 25-16 victory over visiting Schaumburg.
"Those two guys (Aaron and Jacob) really do a great job of feeding off of each other," said Fremd coach Curt Pinley. "They've matured this season and they know what it takes to make the team successful."
Junior middle Rocco Stella added 6 kills as the Vikings improved to 3-0 in the Mid-Suburban West, and 7-2 overall.
"Rocco's a solid player," said Pinley. "He's one of our quieter guys but he's a quick study when it comes to what's happening on the court."
The Petersons joined the volleyball team their frosh season on the suggestion of a friend, and both came to quickly love the sport.
Jacob was assigned to the setter position because "the team wanted a left-handed setter" while Aaron quickly found a home at outside hitter.
"When we first started playing," said Jacob, "it was fun watching the varsity guys and looking up to them, and our freshman coach encouraged us by telling us that we could be like them someday."
"I can see that our team has bought into winning this year," added Jacob of the Vikings' hot start. "Our team goes 100 percent in practice all the time, and I really enjoy being on the court with my brother. It's great to have a connection with someone and I know that I can rely on him."
Fremd cruised to a 25-20 win in the first set against the Saxons, then took a commanding lead in set two.
But Schaumburg wasn't done, showing its character by ripping off 6 straight points to get back into the game.
An ace from Saxons senior setter Ever Ortega and kills from teammates Ryan Regier and Isaiah Mitchell fueled the Schaumburg run.
"We did a good job responding well at times tonight," said first-year Saxons coach Eric Melton, "and at times we didn't.
"We're still learning. I'm new to varsity and we're putting in a new system, and the first few conference games are a good way to see where we're at."
Fremd was able to stem the tide of the Schaumburg rally by putting together a 4-point run of its own, led by 2 late kills from Aaron Peterson.
Three straight hitting errors by the Saxons (3-10, 1-2) closed out the match.
"As a team this year," said Aaron Peterson, "we're doing a good job of showing our strengths and exposing the other team's weaknesses."
Alex Wysocki led the Fremd defensive effort with 6 digs and 12-of-13 on serve receive.
Kaleb Scharman added 9 assists for a team that is excited to be undefeated after 3 conference contests.
"It'll be interesting to see what happens in the next two (division games) and see where we're at at the turn," said Pinley. "We could be right in the mix fighting for first place, and it's been awhile since we've been in the mix at this point in the season."
Buffalo Grove d. Rolling Meadows: The visiting Bison stayed unbeaten against MSL East competition but the Mustangs made them earn it in a 25-20, 26-28, 25-16 decision.
Buffalo Grove (11-9, 3-0) got 9 kills apiece from Chris Tsourmas and Ian Van Wazer and 7 from Tyler Stejskal along with strong serving from Greg Schneider (18-for-18, 2 aces) and Danny Zickert (16-for-17, 2 aces).
Logan Reese (12 kills) and Arthur Barczak (11) led the attack for Meadows, while Szymon Kleniuk had 26 digs and Joey Tunzi came up with 19 assists on 42-for-42 setting.
Barrington d. Palatine: The Broncos won comfortably in the first set before Palatine provided a stern test in the second as Barrington prevailed 25-14, 30-28.
Josh Babicz and Michael O'Toole had 9 kills each while Evan Carroll had 30 setting assists for Barrington. Babicz had the team-high in blocks with 3, and O'Toole led the way with 7 digs.
Palatine's Matt Cooper had a team-best 6 kills on 9-for-11 hitting and 3 blocks.
Prospect d. Elk Grove: The host Knights prevailed by bouncing back after a first-set loss, 20-25, 25-22, 25-23.
Elk Grove's top performers were Kevin Doyle (12 kills), Kevin Braceros (11 kills, 7 aces, 18 digs) and John Duncker (9 kills) along with Ed Gonzalez (35 assists), Carlos Leon (17 digs) and Luke Augustaitis (6 blocks).
Hersey d. Wheeling: The Huskies improved to 9-1 overall and 3-0 in the MSL East by winning 25-17, 25-22 against the host Wildcats.
Jake Mailloux (9 kills) and Matt Hopkins (7) paced the attack for Hersey, Christian Hong went 10-for-10 serving with 2 aces, Justin Hong had a team-best 20 digs and Vince Reisel ran the offense to the tune of 53-for-53 setting with 25 assists.
Michael Best (7 kills) led the attack for Wheeling (4-5, 1-2), while Matt Schiferl had a team-best 12 digs and Kyle Bagarella contributed 16 setting assists along with 4 kills.
Hoffman Estates d. Conant: The visiting Hawks got 10 digs from Daniel Ham and 4 kills each from Jonathan Kolweier and Miguel Pineda in earning their first MSL West victory 25-22, 25-16.