Flying start helps Fremd handle Schaumburg

Fremd broke out and broke away impressively in Friday night's St. Charles East boys volleyball sectional semifinal match with Mid-Suburban West rival Schaumburg.

The result for the second-seeded Vikings (24-12) was a 25-9, 25-17 breakthrough victory after losing in the sectional semifinals the past two seasons.

"That was pretty close to as well as we've played," said Fremd senior setter Steve Maring, who was 33-for-34 with 13 assists and had 6 block kills and 4 digs. "The key was consistency. We just kept after it."

Especially after starting Game 1 with leads of 11-1 and 16-3 in beating the third-seeded Saxons (20-17) for the third time in four tries this season.

Now the Vikings get a chance in Tuesday's 7 p.m. sectional championship to avenge a three-game loss this season to top-seed Lake Park (30-7), which beat No. 4 St. Charles North 25-20, 25-15 in Friday's first semifinal.

"We have really talked about how we have to get out and play well the first 10 points of the match," said Fremd coach Curt Pinley. "At times we don't, but obviously that made a big difference in Game 1."

It was also a big change from Wednesday's regional final when Fremd had to bounce back from losing its first game to Wheaton Academy.

"The last two wins against Wheaton really launched us into this match," said Fremd senior Brian Allen, who had 7 kills and 4 aces. "We had to work so hard to get those wins because it was so difficult to get kills.

"We worked really hard in practice on staying focused and making sure we hit balls in."

Maring made sure Allen, Jeff Chappell, Dan Szwiec, Eric Ciura and Peter Ninchich controlled the play at the net. The only early answer by Schaumburg was 3 kills from Glenn Frost.

"We played pretty well the last month of the season," said Schaumburg coach Kyle Reid, whose team had won 11 of its last 13 matches before Friday. "I felt pretty good about the way we prepared and played prior to this but sometimes things don't go your way."

Schaumburg came out stronger in Game 2 and led and 6-5 on a kill by Sanup Desai. Frost's kill cut its deficit to 11-10 but a kill and block kill by Allen started an 8-1 burst for the Vikings.

"The vibe was getting better on the court but we still struggled to get stops on (Allen)," Reid said. "He's a good hitter. Their size definitely played a factor."

Which the Vikings hope is the case again Tuesday night when they try to make their first trip to the Elite Eight at Hoffman Estates.

"After the way we played tonight I feel really confident about Lake Park," Allen said.

"I think our whole team is feeling pretty confident," Maring said. "It will be a good match and it's the kind of game you want to play in."