Dream alive for Fremd

Fremd's boys volleyball team almost watched its state tournament dream slip away Tuesday night.

Almost.

After splitting the first two games of its St. Charles East sectional final match against Lake Park, the Vikings lost a 24-21 third-game advantage before finally settling down, coming up with a pair of kills and earning a 15-25, 25-21, 26-24 victory over Lake Park.

The win vaulted the Vikings (25-12) into the Elite Eight, marking the first time the boys program has ever traveled to the state finals. They'll play in Friday's 6 p.m. quarterfinal at Hoffman Estates against Marist, which won its own sectional 25-20, 23-25, 25-21 over Providence.

Steve Maring's block kill gave the Vikings the 24-21 advantage, but a kill by Matej Mitev and a pair from Michael Kreiser gave the Lancers one last shot. Jeff Chappell followed a Fremd timeout with a kill before Brian Allen's block kill punched the Vikings' Elite Eight ticket.

"The nice thing about when they tied it at 24-24 is that we were in serve receive. We do a very good job in serve-receive, and we're confident in there " Fremd coach Curt Pinley said. "Once we got that one point, I felt we were confident we'd get that last one as well."

After losing to the Lancers midway through the first game, Fremd rebounded to snag an early 4-0 lead in the second, a game they never trailed. The Vikings only deficit through the final two games occurred when Lake Park held a 2-1 advantage in Game 3.

According to Maring, the Vikings simply had to dispel a few early nerves.

"We just wanted it more. I think we've worked way too hard to not play our best that game," Maring said. "I think we just had to work a few jitters out. We have a young team, and so in this kind of a big game you get a few butterflies, and I think we just had to work those out."

"It feels incredible. It's amazing," a smiling Allen said. "I don't know if I thought we could do this at the beginning of the year, but this team has improved incredibly."

Lake Park (30-8) coach Brad Baker congratulated his four seniors for their contributions to a 30-win team.

"We just thanked our seniors for a great season," Baker said, "because without our seniors we wouldn't have even been where we are.

"They've been leading our team all year."