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Boys volleyball: Hersey finishes in fine form at Buffalo Grove

Hersey junior outside hitter Jake Mailloux said he didn't think the Huskies had ever played a better game.

He wasn't alone.

Hersey put on a hitting and blocking clinic Thursday in a 23-25, 25-15, 25-5 boys volleyball victory at Buffalo Grove.

You read that right, 25-5 in the third set against the two-time defending Mid-Suburban League champion Bison.

"That was amazing," said Mailloux. "It was just about flawless (in the third set). We made almost no errors."

"It was phenomenal," added Huskies coach Nancy Lill. "What you saw tonight was one team with a lot of momentum. We were rolling, we were on such a high and it was fun to be in that position, because we've been in that position before on the other side of the net."

Even BG coach Tim Kosiek got in to the act, heaping praise on the effort of his MSL East rivals.

"You've got to give them all the credit in the world," said Kosiek. "We've already played some of the top teams in the state, including Wheaton Warrenville South and Lincoln Way East, and tonight Hersey was better than all of them."

Hersey held the lead in set one before a stirring BG rally handed them a win, as Bison senior Chris Tsourmas broke a 23-23 tie with 2 perfectly placed tip kills.

"I think I counted 6 of their points that fell untouched on our side of the net," said Lill of the Huskies' first-game letdown. "That isn't Hersey volleyball. We were able to turn it around."

Trailing by one set, Mailloux said that it was the Huskies' tri-captains who helped his team turn the tide.

"It was Vince (Reisel), J Hong (Justin Hong), and Matt (Hopkins)," said Mailloux. "They wouldn't let us get down on ourselves."

Stellar defense from Hong (20 digs) led Hersey to the set two win.

"His serve receive," said Lill of Hong, "was just on point all night."

Hersey junior Joe Nugent showed the way in the deciding set by hitting 4 kills in the first 9 points, and the momentum kept going the Huskies way as almost every ball they touched went down for a point, whether it be hitting or blocking.

Mailloux had two of the final kills to close out the match against the Bison (12-10, 3-1).

"Our guys played together the whole game," said Kosiek. "They didn't let up - Hersey was just awesome. They played flawless volleyball."

BG's Tsourmas hit 8 kills while setter Danny Zickert earned 14 assists.

Senior right side Patrick O'Brien led the Huskies (10-1, 4-0) on attack with 13 kills, while Hopkins had 11 kills and Nugent finished with 6 blocks.

"One of our goals this season was to beat BG," said Hopkins. "We've been on the other end of some disappointing losses to them over the years."

"I think the difference in the game tonight was our energy in the last two sets," added Hopkins."We were a little lethargic at the start. It was a great win, but we're not satisfied. We still have work to do."

Barrington d. Fremd: Josh Babicz and Michael O'Toole had 5 kills apiece to help the Broncos hand the Vikes their first loss to a Mid-Suburban West foe.

Evan Carroll had a team-best 15 assists while Stephen Wanca led the way with 8 digs for Barrington, which improved to 4-0 in the West.

Aaron Peterson paced Fremd (7-3, 3-1) with 9 kills while Alex Wysocki had 14 digs and Rocco Stella provided 3 block kills.

Hoffman Estates d. Schaumburg: The Hawks won for the second straight time in MSL West action, getting a 25-14 25-18 victory as Daniel Ham had 11 digs, Kahlil Greaves supplied 4 kills and Jonathan Kolweier had 3 blocks.

Rolling Meadows d. Elk Grove: The Mustangs dropped the first set 25-21 but bounced back with 25-23 wins in the next two to claim an MSL East triumph.

Billy Tompkins had 10 kills to lead Rolling Meadows, while Marc Quezada had a team-best 13 assists and Joe Tunzi (13 assists) and Billy Psarros (11 assists) led the setting effort.

Elk Grove's Kevin Braceros had a team-best 16 kills along with 15 digs, while Carlos Leon had 17 digs, Ed Gonzalez was 81-for-81 setting with 29 assists and Luke Augustaitis and John Duncker both had 3 blocks

Palatine d. Conant: Johnny O'Shea and Bryant Smith both had 5 kills and Ben Rinella produced 11 assist as the Pirates claimed a 25-18, 25-12 decision in MSL West play.

Wheeling d. Prospect: Kyla Bagarella generated 10 assists on 25-for-26 setting to go with 10-for-11 serving, 4 digs and 2 kills as the Wildcats won an MSL East matchup.

Matt Schiferl had a team-high 11 digs for the Wildcats (8-7, 2-2).

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