Elk Grove’s luck changes at Hersey
Call the Elk Grove Grenadiers the never-say-die kids.
The visiting Grens, who haven’t had much luck at Ken Carter Gymnasium in Arlington Heights in recent years, shook off the effects of losing a long, draining first game to bounce back and score a 28-30, 25-23, 25-20 boys volleyball victory over Hersey.
“I’ll take any kind of a victory I can get here,” said Elk Grove coach Dan Windholz, who had only one previous triumph over the Huskies on the road. “This is a good win for us against a very solid team.”
Michal Kawa led the Grens (10-6, 3-1 in the Mid-Suburban East) with 11 kills, while junior Matt Cayton recorded 30 assists on 86-of-88 setting for the Huskies.
“This was a big game for us,” said Cayton. “I think we just got down on ourselves. We had the momentum, lost it and couldn’t get it back.”
Hersey rallied in set one and after staving off three Elk Grove game points and took the match lead when a serve from junior Zack Killam found some open space on the Grens side of the net for a game-winning ace.
The Huskies almost won in two games after a Nick Wienold kill gave them a 23-22 second-set lead, but 3 straight points by the Grens, who were almost flawless in Game 2 with only 3 errors, knotted things up.
“Our energy level wasn’t there in the beginning of the match,” said 6-foot-6 Grens junior Aaron Krause (9 kills). “After we lost the first game we knew we had to come out firing and match their intensity.
“We started serving more aggressively, our passing was good and we were able to get sideouts when we needed them.”
Elk Grove ran out to a big lead in the deciding game, but had to sweat out a few anxious moments as Hersey rallied with 8 straight points late before the Grens could close things out.
“The kids kept fighting — they never gave up,” said Hersey coach Jodi Blazek. “It’s too bad they (Elk Grove) had such a big lead (in Game 3), but you’ve got to give them credit — they’re a tough, solid team.”
Buffalo Grove d. Wheeling: The Bison improved to 4-0 in the MSL East with a 25-11, 25-11 victory over Wheeling. Chris Shanahan provided 10 kills and Lukas Karch had 6 for the Bison (14-3 overall).
Zach Nauert had 7 kills and Nate Lichtenberger had 5 digs for Wheeling (4-9, 2-2).
Conant d. Fremd: Zach Lindeman had 8 kills on 20-of-22 hitting and served 3 aces to help the visiting Cougars to an MSL West win.
Brian Stone was 48-for-48 setting with 14 assists for Conant (4-10, 2-2).
Dan Szwiec had 4 kills and Kolbe Stenoien had 3 digs for Fremd (2-9, 0-4).
Prospect d. Rolling Meadows: Scott Shewmon had 7 kills and Kevin Murphy had 4 for Rolling Meadows, but visiting Prospect kept the Mustangs winless in MSL East action with a 25-14, 17-25, 25-21 victory.
Peter Nickle provided 10 digs for Rolling Meadows (2-8, 0-4).
Hoffman Estates d. Palatine: Kyle Caldwell had 11 kills and Franco Fumagalli and Victor Lugo had 10 each as the host Hawks outlasted Palatine 25-19, 17-25, 27-25 to improve to 3-1 in MSL West play.
Fenton d. St. Viator: The host Lions fell to the Bison 25-17, 27-25 in nonconference play. David Kingsley had 9 kills and Patrick Ryan had 12 setting assists for St. Viator.