Schaumburg outlasts stubborn Rolling Meadows
Simply put, the Schaumburg boys volleyball team refused to lose Tuesday.
The sixth-seeded Saxons struggled at times, especially on defense, but turned it on late to outlast a stubborn Rolling Meadows team 25-21, 20-25, 25-18 in the Bartlett regional semifinals.
No. 11 seed Meadows battled as senior Kyle Weiner hammered 5 kills in Game 3 alone, but the Saxons and 6-foot-3 outside hitter Glenn Frost had too much firepower.
"I thought Glenn played an outstanding match," said Schaumburg coach Kyle Reid of the senior, who finished with 12 kills on 22-of-25 attacking.
Frost had a couple of game-changing spikes near the end of the deciding game to help turn the tide, while junior Sean Dummine added 6 kills for the Saxons.
"We struggled all night, but you have to give some of the credit for that to Rolling Meadows - they played very well," said Reid. "Our serve receive and passing was not very good in the first two games."
Game 3 was tied at 11-11 when Frost had a block kill to give the Saxons a lead they wouldn't relinquish.
Then a couple of Meadows hitting errors, two more Frost kills and tip kill by Sanup Desai followed, and just like that the Saxons had a 5-point lead.
The Mustangs closed to within 3 points late but a Desai kill, a Meadows hitting error, and a dump kill by Schaumburg's Blake Nelson closed out the match.
"Our passing was not good in the first and second games," said Desai, "but we picked it up in the third game. We've been playing well late in the season, fighting back (from deficits) and making some nice comebacks, and tonight we had the energy to close this match out."
"We cut down on the little mistakes we were making," added Frost, "pulled together, got the lead and kept rolling."
Schaumburg will now face Mid-Suburban West rival Barrington at 7 p.m. today for the regional title. They split their two league meetings.
"Barrington's a good team," said Desai. "If we expect to beat them, we're going to have to play a lot better than we did tonight."
Barrington d. Bartlett: Barrington didn't get off to the start it wanted to in its semifinal against Bartlett.
The Broncos did, however, really enjoy the finish.
After trailing by as many as 6 points in Game 1 to host and No. 18 seed Bartlett, the third-seeded Broncos rallied behind some superlative play from the service line to defeat the Hawks 25-21, 25-18.
"We came to play," said Barrington senior opposite Juan Mendez, who had 2 blocks. "The first game didn't go as expected, but we got our confidence back in the second game and won thanks to our blocking and defense."
Senior outside hitter Joe Davidson led the Broncos (18-5) with 8 kills and 12 digs.
The Game 1 tide turned on some strong defensive play from the Broncos. With the score tied a 15-all, incredible digs from sophomore libero Austin Czarnecki and Davidson led to a kill by Matt Logue to help Barrington take the lead.
An ace from Barrington setter Taylor Ganzer (15 assists), one of six on the night for the Broncos, helped close out the first game.
Logue had 2 aces in the second game to help Barrington close out the win.
"We're all refocused," said Davidson, as Barrington rebounded from three straight conference losses to score the playoff win. "We had a tough end to the season, but we're using that energy to propel us in the state tournament. We know our season's not over."
Logue added 6 kills for the winners.
"We had a shaky beginning," said Barrington coach Rob Ridenour, "but I was impressed with the way the guys mentally rebounded. Even when we were down, we had emotional energy that stayed consistent throughout the match."
At Highland Park: Nat Pearson had 16 kills and 15 digs as No. 5 Palatine advanced with a 21-25, 25-21, 25-18 win over Highland Park. The Pirates will play in today's 7 p.m. regional final against No. 4 Prospect, a 25-19, 25-18 winner over Carmel.
At Larkin: Zach Lindeman had 6 kills and 2 blocks and Vince Petrella had 5 kills and 2 blocks as No. 9 Conant (16-19) beat No. 8 Elk Grove 25-14, 26-24. The Cougars play top-seeded Lake Park at 7 p.m. today for the regional title.
At Buffalo Grove: The top-seeded Bison beat No. 16 Wheeling 25-21, 25-18. Mitch Lewis had 7 kills for the Wildcats. The Bison play in today's 7 p.m. regional final against No. 9 Deerfield.