BG gets off ropes in tough test with Pats

Stevenson had Buffalo Grove on the ropes Wednesday night at the Palatine volleyball regional.

Then the Patriots let top-seeded BG wriggle free.

Stevenson won Game 1 and had a late Game 2 lead but the Bison, the top seed in the Patriots' sectional, rallied for a 27-29, 25-20, 25-14 regional championship win.

"It's never easy, is it?" said BG coach Matt Aiello after his team came back from a 20-19 deficit in Game 2. "Stevenson is a great rival and they played with a lot of heart tonight."

BG (27-5) will meet Fremd in Friday's 6:30 p.m. sectional semifinal in a rematch of the Mid-Suburban League championship match.

Junior Brad Feiger led the Pats with 10 kills and Matt Ockrim hammered 7, but some key hitting errors late in Game 2 hurt.

"It's a big disappointment," said Ockrim. "For awhile we had the intensity, but then it died down, and we didn't make the passes we needed to. We gave it our all but we fell short."

Game 1 was a roller coaster ride for both teams. BG libero Matt Bronson (26 digs) made 2 incredible saves late to keep BG close but an Ockrim tip gave the Pats the Game 1 win.

Eighth-seeded Stevenson rallied in Game 2 to take a 1-point lead, but BG senior Jim Wizniak, a monster in the middle with 7 blocks, stonewalled a Pats (21-15) kill attempt to tie the game at 20-20.

Then 4 consecutive hitting errors and a spike from senior Joe Ascher (14 kills) helped BG tie the match.

"We should have taken care of business in Game 2," said Stevenson coach Tim Crow. "This was heartbreaking because we've been playing so well lately, and tonight we played as well as we have all year. Then we did a 180, and Buffalo Grove took advantage of every error we made."

Game 3 was all BG as it opened an 11-3 advantage en route to the victory.

Setter Jason Giecek recorded 26 assists for Stevenson while Tom Angerame, the Bison playmaker, had 32.

Greg Wajda added 11 kills for the Bison while Wizniak hit 7 kills to go along with his superlative blocking.

"This is the most fun I've had all year," said the 6-foot-4 Wizniak, enjoying this season's playoffs after missing all of last year's due to injury. "Even when we were down it was still exciting. It can't be a championship caliber match unless it's tough."

"I think we were a little too hyped up, a little too excited at the start," added BG outside hitter Chris Falknor.

"We had a bad streak, but we got our focus back and started playing our game."