Boys volleyball: Wheaton North edges Buffalo Grove in Fremd title match
Wheaton North was looking for a springboard.
And the Falcons found one Saturday at the Fremd boys volleyball tournament.
Wheaton North, which had not won a tournament all season, grabbed the title honors when it held off a very determined Buffalo Grove squad, 25-20, 23-25, 25-20.
Wheaton North (25-6) rolled through the tournament. The Falcons beat Rolling Meadows and Prospect while picking up a forfeit win against Rockford Auburn when Auburn had bus issues Friday.
But Buffalo Grove (18-12), which beat Wheaton North in the Fremd tournament finals last year, made it a battle.
Wheaton North won the first set thanks to some solid play at the net and the service line from Aidan Syswerda.
With the set tied at 17, Syswerda had a kill and then served for three consecutive points, two of which were aces. That gave Wheaton North momentum for the 25-20 win.
In the second set, the teams battled back and forth. Wheaton North’s Jake Schreiner had 8 kills in the set.
But the Bison, led by Kacper Shomali, Brandon Pelts, Kevin Ledgerwood and David Hill, refused to give away. They picked up the set win on a kill by Jaden Mathew to send the match to a third game.
Again, it was tight with neither team able to put together any long runs.
That was until Syswerda stepped up his play again.
His kill knotted the set at 20-20. He then served five consecutive points including an ace to win the match. Tomas Manrique and Luke Schmitt each had a kill while Schreiner (16 kills) had the game-winner.
“We just wanted this tournament,” Syswerda said. “We had not won all season and got second at Warren. We have been working hard, especially leading up to this postseason. We felt good about what we were doing and want to keep that going into the end of the season.”
Wheaton North coach John Noe said that his team really wanted to use this tournament win to build momentum towards the state tournament.
“These are the moments we want,” Noe said. “This championship phase that we are going through. We want conference championship moments, tournament championship moments, regional and sectional moments. So that was really nice to get this heading into the end of our conference season and into the state tournament.”
Buffalo Grove coach Tim Kosiek said he loved how his team battled all day.
“We did this as a team,” Kosiek said. “We had guys in different positions that aren’t normally in those spots. Collectively we played incredibly well together and that was really fun to see.”
Buffalo Grove made its way into the finals by turning the tide earlier Saturday.
The Bison had lost to Fremd Friday, 25-17, 25-13. The Bison won the play-in game early Saturday beating South Elgin, 25-17, 25-19. They then knocked off Fremd 25-17: 25-22 to move into the finals.
Fremd (16-11), which was playing short-handed Saturday, won third place. The Vikings knocked off Prospect, 25-12, 25-23. Fremd rallied in the last set from a 20-16 deficit.
Fremd was led by outside hitters Ethan Garst and Brian Cochran. They helped pick things up for the Vikes who were missing both Jack Cioni and Mike Hansen who were at a band competition.
“All things considered I think we did great,” Fremd coach Tracy Harding said. “They just proved to themselves that when we don’t have people, they can still get the job done.”
Prospect (18-13), which earlier beat MSL East rival Rolling Meadows, 25-20, 20-25, 25-13, to move into the semifinals, got swept in the semis by Wheaton North, 25-23, 25-19.
The Knights were led by outside hitter Luke Cradduck and setter Ryan Cook.
“We have been dealing with a little bit of a roller-coaster ride,” Prospect coach Mike Riedy said. “We are trying to find some consistency. Part of what we were focusing on is for our guys to convince themselves that they can run with the big dogs. We are trying to find that level that will carry us in the postseason.”