BG edges Prospect, takes East lead

Buffalo Grove got the upper hand in an early season battle for supremacy in the Mid-Suburban East.

Led by 14 digs and the stellar all-around play of senior libero Joe Duda, the Bison outlasted Prospect to claim a 26-24, 25-22 boys volleyball victory.

Both teams came in to Tuesday's match undefeated in conference play.

"Joe's a fighter," said Buffalo Grove coach Matt Aiello, "and with his ability, he can be one of the best in the state."

"He's the glue that holds our team together. We've got some hard hitters and a great setter, but Joe's the reason we're able to run our offense. He'd like nothing better than to get his team another conference championship."

BG, which won the Mid-Suburban League title last season with an undefeated record, was led in hitting by senior Chris Falknor (18-of-22 on attack, 10 kills) and sophomore sensation Chris Shanahan (8 kills).

Kevin Reed led Prospect with 10 kills.

"I thought we played really well," said Knights junior outside hitter Mike Gemkow (9-of-11 on serve with 3 aces.) "This was probably our best match of the season."

"I'm proud of them," added Prospect coach Mike Riedy. "We played some good volleyball tonight."

"I'm not upset about this loss at all," added Riedy. "We'll see Buffalo Grove again later in the year, and right now we've got Hersey Thursday and the rest of the MSL East to worry about."

Prospect (8-5, 3-1) shook off the effects of a tough first-game loss to grab an early 9-3 lead in Game 2.

Then BG (14-3, 4-0) fought back and took a late advantage behind the jump-float serves of Mike Jambrone (3 aces).

"Their number 4 (Jambrone) got on a roll," said Riedy, "and that hurt us."

With Game 2 tied at 24-24, Falknor hit a spike that was blocked out of bounds by the Prospect defense.

A hitting error by Prospect closed out the match.

Senior captain James Hoffman excelled for Prospect. The outside hitter was 20-of-24 on attack with 9 kills, had 5 digs and finished 19-of 20 on serve receive.

BG setter Dan Wichmann was 59-of-60 with 27 assists.

"We did a nice job tonight of keeping our composure," said Aiello. "Prospect was playing well and they were serving us tough all day."

"With both teams being 3-0," added Duda, "we knew this was going to be a tough match."

"They've got some good hitters, but we battled and were able to come through."