Boys volleyball: Fremd finds a way past Schaumburg

Fremd turned the tables on Schaumburg in the Saxons' boys volleyball regional.

Schaumburg had defeated the Vikings twice this season in Mid-Suburban West play, but Tuesday night it was a different story.

Fremd took set 1 convincingly, then held on in set 2 for a 25-17, 26-24 win.

Senior middle Aaron Peterson produced 11 kills for the Vikings.

"Schaumburg does such a good job, you have to bring your best against them," said Fremd coach Curt Pinley. "In the beginning of the year I'm not sure that this wouldn't have gone to a third set. But the way we're playing now we were able to close out the match."

After winning the first set handily, No. 11 seed Fremd hit and defended its way to match point at 24-21 in set two.

But sixth-seeded Schaumburg wasn't done, as kills from Ryan Regier and Isaiah Mitchell, along with a Fremd error, brought the score to 24-24.

Then the Vikings called time out.

"We've lost games like this in different situations," said Fremd junior outside Jason Hajdukovic, "but we've also been in this same type of situation before and won.

"(At that point) we had to think about the positives and how we would be able to win. We knew that we had lost to these guys twice before, but we also had the confidence that we could do it tonight."

The final 2 points turned into a game of inches, as a hit from Aaron Peterson landed just inside the end line to put Fremd up 25-24.

On the next rally, a kill attempt from Schaumburg flew just wide to put the game in the win column for the Vikings.

Martin Michalski finished with 5 kills for Fremd, while setter Jacob Peterson was 48-for-48 with 25 assists had 3 aces.

"We've really started to come together as a team," said Hajdukovic. "We've been more consistent, whether it be regular-season games or tournament games.

"As Coach Pinley told us, it's hard to beat a team three times and we came out and proved that."

Addison Trail d. Leyden: A late-match rally by Leyden fell just short at Schaumburg.

Addison Trail was able to outlast the Eagles 15-25, 25-20, 25-23 but Leyden coach Shelly Mueller said that she couldn't have been prouder of her team's performance.

"We came a long way this season," said Mueller. "These guys left it all out on the court tonight. It's heartbreaking to lose this way, but we were competitive and this game could have gone either way."

The West Suburban Gold rivals split the first two sets on the Schaumburg floor, then the Blazers took a commanding 4-point lead in the latter stages of he deciding game.

But a kill from from Eagles junior outside Jason Kemp, then a couple of hitting errors by the Blazers, brought Leyden within 24-23.

Then 6-foot-5 Addison Trail setter Jacob Grygo closed out the match by putting the final ball down.

"I had the ball in my hands and I didn't want to let the team down," said Grygo of the winning point.

Senior outside hitter Robert Elem led Leyden with 14 kills. Classmate Tom Radziszewski had 6 kills and 4 blocks, while senior setter Rodrigo Caldera finished with 33 assists.

"Everyone was on fire tonight in the first set," said Mueller. "That was one of the best games we've played all year. I knew Addison Trail was going to bring a lot more to the table than they did in the first game. We were ready for it, and our guys adjusted and in the third set we were very competitive."

"This group is a fighting group. They don't like losing and they will do everything they possibly can to win."