Barrington prevents dramatic finish

The Barrington boys volleyball team sat in the stands and watched Buffalo Grove rally late in the third game for a victory over Mundelein on Tuesday.

When the Broncos took the court, they made sure there would be little drama. Barrington was in control of the match from the start and scored a 25-20, 25-16 victory over Warren at Mundelein in a regional semifinal.

Barrington, the No. 7 seed, will play No. 2 Buffalo Grove at 7 p.m. today at Mundelein for the regional title.

When Barrington increased its lead to 15-7 in the first game, Warren, a No. 10 seed, was forced to call a timeout. During the break, Barrington coach Rob Ridenour emphatically traded high-fives with his team.

"I was very excited because we had executed perfectly a couple of things we talked about," he said.

Right after the timeout, senior libero Max Deevy served an ace. After a Warren point, he let a Warren serve float just past the line.

"You want to touch every ball, but it was one of those times where you have a gut feeling," Deevy said. "Luckily, it worked out in our favor."

Senior outside hitter Randy Lorenz praised senior rightside Nick Leiding for directing the Broncos on the court.

"He (told) us what they would run; we knew where the ball was going to go," Lorenz said.

Barrington actually led 24-16 before Warren strung 5 points together. During this run, senior Kevin Blair had a pair of kills.

Warren was unable to carry that momentum into the second game, and Lorenz's match-high 10 kills had a lot to do with that.

"When he hits one of those bounce balls, it brings our intensity through the roof," Deevy said.

In the second game, Warren hung tough early. But the Broncos broke open a 6-6 game by going on a 7-1 run.

"We wanted to keep our errors down and make Barrington score their points," Blue Devils coach Yun Chen said. "Barrington played tough and was able to put the ball down."

The Blue Devils finished the season with a 21-15 record.

"We had six brand-new starters and at times we surprised some teams," Chen said.

Barrington juniors Jake Nixon and Joe Davidson had 4 and 3 kills, respectively. Davidson also had 2 blocks. Deevy contributed 8 digs and was 17 of 18 in serve-receive. Lorenz served 2 aces.

Barrington lost to BG in two games when the teams played early in the season.

"We've improved so much as a team since then," Lorenz said.