Bison bow out

The most successful season in Buffalo Grove boys volleyball history came to a swift and sudden end Saturday in the state championship match.

The Bison, who had defeated Neuqua Valley in an epic 3-game thriller in the semifinals, lost the title match 25-15, 25-20 to Wheaton Warrenville South at Hoffman Estates High School.

The Tigers, with only two seniors on their roster, won their fourth state championship in the last five years and their fifth crown overall, while the Bison took home their second finals trophy in the last three years.

Buffalo Grove finished fourth at the 2006 tournament, and it's the also fourth time in state tourney history that a Mid-Suburban League time has taken home runner-up hardware.

Rolling Meadows (1995), Hersey (2003) and Barrington (2005) have all been championship game bridesmaids.

"We struggled tonight on serve receive," said BG coach Matt Aiello, "and that forced our hitters to hit shots they weren't comfortable with."

"We've only had 6 losses this season, and 3 of them have come to Wheaton Warrenville South. Each time, we had trouble with serve receive."

The Tigers defeated BG in two games in the season opening tournament, the Bison Classic, the bested BG in 3 games a week later at the Tiger Classic.

"They brought their game tonight," said Joe Ascher, "but then we expected them to -- it was the championship match."

"They made us look like we out of position at times," said Aiello, "but we were just as scrappy on defense as they were."

Game 1 was all WW South as the Tigers, behind 6-10 outside hitter Neil Nystrom (6 kills) led by as many as 9 points en route to the opening game win.

A kill by Ascher tied game 2 at 10-10, but senior Eric Hardek's 2 aces helped bring WW South to the brink at 24-19.

A tip by Ascher gave life to BG but then a service error gave WW South the victory.

"We did an excellent job of battling all weekend," said WW South coach Bill Schreier. "We could have easily let down after our semifinal match (a 3-game win over Providence)."

"We knew what we had to do and we did it," added WW South middle Rob Samp. "We knew it would be a battle, but here we are."

Senior middle Jim Wizniak had 3 kills and 2 blocks for the Bison, while Falknor and Ascher each recorded 3 kills.

And despite the loss, Aiello says the Bison won't hang their heads.

"The Bison volleyball program is bigger than just wins and losses," said Aiello. "I'm proud of this team. The conducted themselves as an elite program should."

"This is the best team in Buffalo Grove history, because they played like a team. We're not going home, we're going out to celebrate, like the extended family we are."

The school will host an assembly for the team at 9 a.m. Monday.

Semifinals: Joe Ascher and Chris Falknor each hammered 11 kills, and senior setter Tom Angerame had 28 assists as Buffalo Grove stormed back to claim a 25-23, 20-25, 25-22 victory over Neuqua Valley in the semifinals.

Mike McEvoy and Jim Wizniak both had 2 blocks as the Bison rallied in Game 3 for the win.

"We were pretty excited after the win," said Wizniak, "but then we knew we had to relax and get ourselves physically and mentally for the next game."

"It's heartbreaking," said Neuqua coach Eric Mendoza, whose team was led on attack by Jake Blackman and Brian Clark, each with 11 kills.

"I felt we had the talent to make it to the championship match."

BG trailed 14-12 in Game 3 but an Ascher kill and 2 Neuqua hitting errors pushed the Bison into the lead.

Neuqua got as close as 21-23 but an Angerame kill helped put BG into the title match for the first time in school history.