Czarnecki sparks Barrington victory

Senior libero Austin Czarnecki has given Barrington some teriffic defensive performances over the last three seasons.

None, however, were better than his effort Thursday night at Palatine.

Despite the Pirates’ attempt to keep the visiting Broncos off balance with an unorthodox serving style, Czarnecki was up to the challenge in leading his team to a 25-14, 25-22 Mid-Suburban West clinching victory.

The senior had 14 digs and was 18-of-20 on serve receive, with 17 perfect passes, as Barrington improved to 9-0 in conference.

The Broncos now own a 3-game lead with just one more division match to play before before May 16th’s MSL championship game against the East winner.

“Austin was unbelievable tonight,” said Barrington coach Rob Ridenour. “He passed something like 2.9 on a scale of 3.0.

“The challenge for us now is to find someone else on our team who wants to play defense at the same high level. We can’t count on Austin to bail us out every time.”

For the most of the match, Palatine employed a short-service technique in an effort to frustrate the Barrington service receive, but the ploy didn’t faze Czarnecki or his teammates.

“I think they thought that Austin couldn’t pass with his hands,” said Broncos senior hitter Jeff Hochstein, who along with Charlie Spry and Tommy Leonard led the visitors’ attack. “He showed them that he could.”

“They were trying to keep me on my platform,” said Czarnecki, referring to a technique where the ball is passed off the inside part of the joined forearms. “They wanted to get us out of system, but we were able to fight through that.”

Palatine, led by the setting of Kyle Obernesser (44-of-45), could have turned the West into a two-team race with a home victory. And the Pirates (11-15, 6-3) played like they wanted it badly in an intense Game 2.

But after the home team tied the set at 20, a clutch ace from Barrington’s Kevin Eiring and a final dump kill by setter Taylor Ganzer closed out the win.

“Palatine did a tremendous job in Game 2,” said Ridenour. “They played the way I wish we would have played.They outhustled us, and they way they dug every ball we hit to them frustrated us.”

But luckily for the Broncos, Czarnecki was on their side of the net — and the senior said that he and his teammates are focused on attaining some big goals this year.

“Since we went to state in 2005 (where the Broncos lost a heartbreaking 3-game title match), we haven’t been able to get out of regionals,” Czarnecki said. “We’ve been on kind of a downward slope since then, but I think that in the last two years we’ve restored the Barrington prestige. We’re a force to be reckoned with.”

Palatine coach Frank Stark said the Pirates also have hopes for a postseason run.

“We’ve been doing some things lately to get better,” said Stark. “They keys are that we’ve got to polish up the speed on our offense, stay agressive, and keep up the intensity.”