Boys volleyball: Strong finish lifts Wheeling to big victory
The Wheeling boys volleyball team came up with one of its biggest victories in recent memory Thursday at Buffalo Grove.
It didn't, however, come easily.
The Wildcats played almost flawless volleyball for a set and a half, then had to hold off a stirring Bison rally to win 25-17, 29-27.
"Hopefully, many more big wins like this to come," said Wheeling senior Sono Tsogtbaatar as his team improved to 14-10 and 5-2 in the Mid-Suburban East.
Tsogtbaatar, a setter, had 9 assists and teammate Kyle Bagarella added 11 assists while libero Matt Schiferl led the Wildcats' strong defensive effort with 14 digs.
"We gave them (Wheeling) a lot of opportunities tonight," said Bison coach Tim Kosiek. "But you've got to give them a ton of credit. They played clean, they played well and they played great defense."
Hitters Michael Best and Michael Lechowicz paced the attack for Wheeling with 6 kills apiece.
"We've struggled (in the past) against BG," Lechowicz said. "So it was nice come out tonight, play well and be competitive. We worked together as a unit, we communicated, we cheered each other on and we didn't let anyone get down on themselves."
After 3 kills and an ace from Wheeling's Jared Moser helped the visitors win Game 1, Kosiek had a heart-to-heart with his team.
"I told the guys that the way they responded in the second game was going to set the tone for the rest of the season," Kosiek said. "They started to pick it up and play well but it took them until the middle of the game to do it."
BG trailed 18-9 in Set 2 but went on a stunning 8-point run to close to within 1.
"I have to admit I was worried at that point," Lechowicz said. "We had to finish it out."
"What was going through my mind was that we had to execute on all three touches and give ourselves a chance," said Wildcats coach Jason Kopkowski. "The thing about this group is that they've put in the time and put in the work, and that helped them to compose themselves and finish strong."
The game went back-and-forth from that point on until a kill from BG senior outside Ian Van Wazer brought the Bison to set point at 27-26.
But Wheeling scored the next 3 points to win, taking the match on dig by Tristan Johnson, a set from Tsogtbaatar and a kill from Jon Jankowski.
"I heard someone yell 'free ball,' " said Jankowski of the match-winning point. "And we have a set play for free balls so I just tried to hit it as hard as I could. This was amazing."
Van Wazer led the Bison (14-11, 5-2) with 6 kills on 13-of-14 hitting
"We've been so successful at BG for so long that teams coming here make it a point to give it their best and play with reckless abandon," Kosiek said. "I'm really impressed with what Jason (Kopkowski) has done for his program. It's exciting to see. He's got them playing extremely well and they were the better team tonight."
Hersey d. Elk Grove: The visiting Huskies kept rolling in MSL East play, moving within 1 win of clinching at least a share of the divisional title with a 25-9, 25-14 decision.
Patrick O'Brien (7 kills) and Jake Mailloux (6) led the Hersey attack on a combined 20-for-22 hitting.
Other key contributors for the Huskies (18-2, 7-0) included Vince Reisel (28-for-28 setting, 20 assists), Justin Hong (8 digs, 12-for-14 serving with 3 aces) and Adrian Holubek (7 blocks).
Elk Grove's effort was led by Kevin Braceros (7 kills, 5 digs), Tim Varga (3 kills), Ed Gonzalez (32-for-34 setting, 6 assists, 5 digs, 2 aces) and Carlos Leon (7 digs).
Palatine d. Hoffman Estates: The host Pirates came up with a 25-19, 25-13 victory in MSL West play.
Johnny O'Shea had a big hitting effort for Palatine with 12 kills; he also had a team-best 8 digs and went 14-for-14 serving. Other key contributions came from Ben Rinella (18 assists) and Camden Hill (4 kills, 2 blocks).
Kahlil Greaves had 4 kills to lead Hoffman Estates, which also got 10 digs from Daniel Ham.
Fremd d. Conant: Alex Wysocki (15 digs) and Kyle Nelson (11 digs) helped visiting Fremd get past MSL West foe Conant 25-23, 25-11.
Aaron Peterson had a team-best 9 kills and 3 blocks and Jacob Peterson contributed 13 assists for Fremd (12-6, 6-1).
Rolling Meadows d. Prospect: The visiting Mustangs got 7 kills from Logan Reese and 5 apiece from Tom Unti and Arthur Barcazak in earning a 25-17, 25-14 victory over the Knights.
Kyle Kornblum served up 3 aces for Meadows, while Barczak had 4 blocks, Marc Quezada had 12 digs and Joey Tunzi finished with 9 assists on 28-for-30 setting.
Barrington d. Schaumburg: Michael O'Toole had 8 kills, 4 digs and 2 blocks for the Broncos, who won the MSL West match 25-14, 25-15 to improve to 7-0 in divisional play.
Gabe Hartke added 5 kills and Sean Dolan 3 as Evan Carroll set the attack with 18 assists. Stephen Wanca (6) and Thomas Chapman (5) led Barrington in digs while Josh Babicz contributed 3 blocks.