Buffalo Grove rallies to down Fremd for MSL title
Buffalo Grove has shown most of the boys volleyball season that it can get a lead and win going away.
On Wednesday night at Fremd, the Bison also proved they can rally against a very good opponent.
The host Vikings held an early lead in both games of the Mid-Suburban League championship match, but BG came back both times to score a 27-25, 25-22 victory.
It was the third consecutive season BG and Fremd have met in the championship match and the third straight year the visitor has taken the crown.
The Bison won in Palatine in 2008 while the Vikings turned the tables at BG last season.
"We thought about that," said BG junior middle Jamie Schnittker of avenging last year's loss. "But it didn't really consume us. We just wanted to come out tonight and play good defense, and we knew if we did that we could win."
Bison coach Matt Aiello echoed that sentiment.
"I thought we played better defense than we did offense tonight," Aiello said. "We didn't play exceptionally well, but this was a nice win. It's just part of the process for us.
"We love being at this point (in the MSL title match) this late in the season. It's great for the guys to play in front of a lot of fans with a little extra added pressure."
Fremd was on its game from the outset and with senior Brian Allen (10 kills) - just switched from middle to outside hitter - leading the way took a 16-13 lead in Game 1.
But a couple of kills from 6-foot-9 senior Nick Baronti (match-high 15 kills) and one of Chris Shanahan's 3 aces put the Bison (25-5) in position to take the lead.
Baronti put down the final ball in Game 1 to end the Vikings' threat.
"Like I've said all season, the guys have shown a lot of maturity," said Aiello. "There used to be times when they'd get down and freak out after an error or after they'd get blocked.
"Now guys like Lukas (Karch) can look over at me after an error and smile, and I know he's thinking about just getting it back on the next point."
BG had to rally again in Game 2 but took the lead midway through on a dump kill from setter Karch.
Fremd (21-12) closed to within 23-22 after a kill from junior outside hitter Peter Ninchich but two hitting errors gave the win to BG.
"That was the key," said Fremd coach Curt Pinley. "You take some of those errors we made out of the equation, especially at the net, and we played one of the best teams we've seen straight up.
"We came into this match saying that we wanted to play well no matter what the outcome. I think we did that - it's a great boost going into the state playoffs."
Fremd senior Steve Maring was 54-of-57 setting with 15 assists and had 2 block kills. Shanahan hammered 8 kills for BG while teammate Alex Kob, a senior libero, excelled with 12 digs.
"We know we have the hitters," said Kob of the powerful Bison offense, "but I think we proved tonight we've got the defense to match.
"We came out tonight and made the passes and got to the first hits, the second hits, and even the third hits that should have gone down for kills."