Boys volleyball: BG finishes strong to down Prospect
Back in 1994, when Prospect boys volleyball MIke Riedy was in his second season, Tim Kosiek was a back row player for Schaumburg.
Little did Kosiek know he'd one day be the head coach at Buffalo Grove and facing Riedy in his 30th season at Prospect.
"He is a good friend and has been a bit of a mentor to me," Kosiek said of the Mid-Suburban League all-time winningest boys volleyball coach (562 wins in 30 seasons) and nearty 1,000 wins when combining his years as the Knights girls coach.
"I've called and talked to him and learned a lot from him. I definitely respect him and it makes the night fun."
Tuesday turned out to be a real fun night for Kosiek's Bison, who broke open a tight match by scoring 7 of the last 9 points for a 22-25, 25-22, 25-17 MSL East triumph at the Jean Walker Field House in Mt. Prospect.
BG senior Kacper Shomall helped spark the big third set with 3 kills.
"Kacper was just outstanding at the end in terms of offense and defense," said Kosiek (178 wins in nine seasons). "He had a lot of great swings on the outside and collectively we just did a really nice job."
George Mason recruit David Hill led the Bison (4-4, 1-0) with 9 kills. He gave BG a 16-13 lead with an ace in the final set.
"David is just an outstanding player and he knows this is an exciting season for him," Kosiek said. "He stepped up to get us some big kills. The nice thing for him is that he has supporting cats around him with Brandon (Pelts) and Kacper who do a nice job."
Junior Micah Cho served 3 key service points for a 23-16 lead in Set 3 with two big kills from John Rauch.
Nick Fortuna's kill got Prospect to within 23-17 before a kill and block by Pelts ended the match.
The Bison took their cues from Cho, who ran the 5-1 offense.
"Micah is an excellent athlete,"' Kosiek said. "He is a junior and does a tremendous job."
Just like Riedy has done with the Knights' program.
"This is more than just about winning a match," Kosiek said. "Mike is an excellent coach and we are both excited for each other when we have success. It's fun to play against each other. His team is going to be a much different one when we see them at the end of the season."
Senior Luke Cradduck led Prospect (2-1, 0-1) with 7 kills.
"As much as I hate losing, I'll take losing to Tim (Kosiek) any day because he is really a good guy," Riedy said. "His boys came out to play in the second and third sets. We came out to survive. My boys lost their self confidence. You could see that in their faces when they were serving and passing. They didn't know if they could get the job done where Tim's boys came out confident as if they knew they could get the job done."