Boys volleyball: Sallade, Seaver power Fremd past Palatine

Fremd hit Palatine with a strong one-two punch Thursday.

Aaron Sallade and Camden Seaver combined for 19 kills as the Vikings decked visiting Palatine, 25-16, 25-12.

"I thought we did a nice job," Fremd coach Curt Pinley said. "We moved the ball around real well. We swung on the right and we swung in the left. But we had other people involved too just enough to keep Palatine off step. That is always going to help."

Pinley was very pleased with effort from his Vikings (2-3, 2-1) after they got off to a slow start not playing over spring break. They returned from break and had matches with area powers Barrington, Stevenson and Buffalo Grove, losing all three.

But those losses didn't matter to Pinley.

"We needed those games," Pinley said. "And we needed them against good teams. When you are playing quality teams and Palatine is a quality team too, you have to start playing better. I think it has been to our advantage, but maybe not in the win columns, but in the growth column, I think it has been to our advantage."

Sallade and Seaver showed that Fremd was ready against crosstown-rival Palatine.

Fremd jumped all over the Pirates in the opening set. With Sallade leading the way, the Vikings powered to a 14-3 lead.

"Camden and I play grass all summer since my freshman year," said Sallade, who is a senior and had 6 of his 9 kills in the first set.

"Our chemistry is really good. We know where each other is all the time."

Palatine (3-7, 1-2) chipped away at the lead thanks to the play of Bobby Widlowski, who had five of his 7 kills in the first set as the Pirates rallied within 22-16.

But Seaver then stepped up with a pair of kills as the Vikings took the first set.

Palatine, which came out sluggish in the first set, came out fighting in the second set. The Pirates battled but still trailed 13-10 on a kill by Widlowski.

That's when Seaver and Fremd took over. The Vikings went on a 12-2 run to close out the match. Seaver nailed five kills during that span with Justin Chiang adding two kills and Sallade another.

"I have known these guys for a long time," said Seaver, a junior who had 7 of his 11 kills in the second set.

"We have been hanging out for all four years and in the summer. We play whenever we get a chance. We have options everywhere. We have someone who can hit from back row, front row and middle."

JR Stella and Nick Tangney each had 3 kills for Fremd while Marco Boscolo had 17 assists.

Palatine got 4 kills from Derek Nagel and 3 kills from Jackson Wheat.

"We have not had the same lineup once this year," Palatine coach Pete Gavin said. "It is not from something we can control with people being sick and things like that. We have some inconsistent efforts right now and we are working through them. But we are not there yet."