Boys volleyball: Prospect bounces back at Buffalo Grove

After losing in two sets to Hersey on Tuesday, the Prospect boys volleyball team came out with a "refuse to lose" attitude Thursday night at Buffalo Grove.

And behind some great defense and blocking particularly late in the second set, the Knights did just that as they posted a 25-21, 25-21 victory over the Bison in this Mid-Suburban League East Division match.

The entire contest was close from the outset as Buffalo Grove (21-4, 6-1) trailed 21-20 after a spike by senior Piotr Wymoczyl (team-high 8 kills) in set one.

But back-to-back blocks by Prospect teammates Marc Ruffolo and Bill Klimek followed by a tap-shot by Ryan Uemura gave the Knights (15-11, 7-2) a 24-21 lead. Then a dink-shot by Klimek closed out Prospect's 25-21 win in the first set.

Set No. 2 had a similar scenario as the Bison held an 18-17 lead on a kill by Colin Shin before a spike by Uemura gave Prospect the lead for keeps at 19-18.

The point of the match came moments later as Buffalo Grove had numerous chances to put the point away with spikes. Instead, fantastic defense by the Knights led to a kill by Ruffolo and a 22-19 lead. On the next point, a block by Prospect senior Kacper Parobi really put the Bison's backs to the wall trailing 23-19.

"We lost to Hersey and we did not play well, and we thought it could maybe be a breaking point for us so we spent some time yesterday at practice just sitting and talking about our future and what we wanted to do and it obviously paid off," said Prospect coach Mike Riedy. "So they came out a lot more loose, there was less pressure on them, and they just played as a team so I'm really proud of them."

A kill by Wymoczyl made the score 23-20, but another huge block by Parobi gave the Knights a 24-20 lead. Yet another kill by Wymoczyl kept the Bison's hopes alive, but a block by Prospect's Jon Stavnes closed out the match for the fired-up Knights.

"They played flawlessly and that's exactly what I told my guys. We knew Prospect was a great team and when we faced them the last time it went three sets," said Buffalo Grove coach Tim Kosiek. "They're well coached, they've got a lot of talent on the team, and tonight they didn't make mistakes. Their defense was getting to everything. We played good volleyball, but they played amazingly well and they shut us down so props to Prospect."

Buffalo Grove's Connor Dell had a strong match with 4 kills while freshman Ryan Cook was a solid contributor for Prospect throughout the contest. Sophomore David Hill also came alive for the Bison late in the second set with his blocking and attacking.

"After the disappointing result against Hersey two days ago we had a really productive practice yesterday and we had a new mindset coming into this game," said Parobi. "It was great winning against Buffalo Grove since we lost to them at home so it was super exciting, and I'm super proud of how everybody played on defense."