Boys volleyball: Right on schedule, Barrington nets West title
Remember 2009?
The Blacked Eyed Peas had the year's No. 1 song (Boom Boom Pow), Kris Bryant was playing baseball for Bonanza High School in Las Vegas, and the top fashion trends included wearing paisley, military jackets, and harem pants (yes, harem pants).
It also happens to be the last time that the Barrington boys volleyball team didn't at least share the Mid-Suburban West title.
The Broncos made it eight straight West championships Thursday night with a 25-18, 25-16 victory over visiting Fremd, but libero Stephen Wanca says his team doesn't take anything for granted.
"It never gets old," said Wanca, a senior. "Like our coach (Rob Ridenour) says, there are five other teams in the West that didn't get a chance to do this."
Ridenour has had some stellar teams over the years, but says this season's group is something special.
"My favorite thing about these guys," said Ridenour, "is their chemistry. They love to come out here and compete with each other, and it shows when they're on the court."
Junior outside Michael O'Toole led the Barrington hitting attack with 7 kills, while senior middle Josh Babicz had 6 and classmate Jacob Werner contributed with 6.
"I've got a lot of confidence in our hitters that they can put the ball down," said Broncos junior setter Evan Carroll (22 assists). "It's a good feeling when all six of us on the court are working in unison."
"We've been working hard this year," added Carroll, "and it's not like we come out and expect to win (the West), but we put ourselves in this position by bringing our best to every match."
After dropping the first set, Fremd (13-8, 7-2) got a glimmer of hope by taking an early lead in the second set behind the hitting of junior Aaron Peterson (8 kills).
But Barrington (23-4, 9-0) quickly dashed the Vikings chances by scoring 7 straight points, and the home team wasn't headed thereafter.
Hard hits from sophomore Gabe Hartke and Werner helped Barrington close out the match.
"Any time you play Barrington," said Fremd coach Curt Pinley, "you've got to limit your errors. I thought when we were in system tonight we were right there with them, but the problem is they take you out of your system with their style of play."
The Broncos also excelled at the service line Thursday, hitting 7 aces.
O'Toole led the hit parade on serve with 3 aces, Hartke added 2 while Wanca and Werner had 1 apiece.
"I thought especially in the second set tonight we controlled the game and dictated the action," said Wanca. "We played the way we're supposed to play, making the plays we're supposed to make and limiting the errors."
Hersey d. Buffalo Grove: The Huskies closed out an outright Mid-Suburban East championship by topping defending conference champ Buffalo Grove 25-9, 26-24.
Hersey trailed 21-13 in the second set before rallying to the division-clinching victory on its home court.
The Huskies will meet West champ Barrington in the conference title matchup on May 17.
Against Buffalo Grove, Hersey's top attackers were Jake Mailloux and Patrick O'Brien with 7 kills apiece.
Setter Vince Reisel was 45-for-45 setting and finished with 22 assists along with 16-for-16 serving. Libero Justin Hong had 14 digs, and Joe Nugent (8 blocks) and O'Brien (6) provided stiff resistance at the net.