Buffalo Grove tops Barrington for MSL title

Barrington came into Wednesday's Mid-Suburban League boys volleyball championship match riding high, having lost only one time all season.

That didn't faze Buffalo Grove.

"They're No. 1 in the state, but we didn't think about that," said Bison senior Paul Weon. "They were playing on our court, in our house, and we had to protect our house. It was a simple as that, and that's what we did."

Buoyed by the support of a large, enthusiastic home crowd, BG spiked to big early leads in both sets and then held off late Barrington rallies to win the MSL crown.

Buffalo Grove, the East Division champs, defeated the West champs 25-23, 25-23.

"My message to the kids tonight was to stay together and play as a team." said Bison coach Tim Kosiek. "We know Barrington is one of the best teams in the state, but we didn't want to get caught up in all that. The key for us was to stay within ourselves and play our game."

Athan Cruz, Alex Franz and Alex Pietras each collected 5 kills for BG while Adam Glader had a match-high 9 kills for the Broncos.

"Listen, they played unbelievably," said Barrington coach Rob Ridenour of Buffalo Grove. "They came out on a mission and their libero, Tullio (Ruscitti), well, I can't count how many times he picked up balls that should have hit the floor. He was outstanding."

Buffalo Grove broke open a close first game midway through and took an 18-12 lead after a kill from junior setter Zach Schnittker.

The Bison went to game point at 24-19 but the Broncos rallied behind 3 straight kills from Glader to close within 24-23. Then a Cruz kill put set 1 in the win column for Buffalo Grove.

"We were aggressive because we had nothing to lose," Schnittker said. "We won the first set but at that point we had to switch our focus to set two. Barrington wasn't done and we knew they'd come out fighting."

Game two was the same story as BG opened up a 5-point lead halfway home, led by aces from Kevin Shanahan and Franz. Both aces fell untouched to the floor near the end line.

The Bison brought the contest to match point at 24-20 but kills from Barrington juniors Glader and Ethan Carroll closed the gap. An ace by classmate Jack Ridgway again brought the score to 24-23.

But just as in set 1, Cruz put the final kill down and the celebration for the home team began.

"I was hoping the ball would come to me," said Cruz of the game-winner. "I wanted to make an impact. Our blocking was very good tonight, but I thought our passing was just as good. I have to give a lot of credit for that to Blake Maley (a BG defensive specialist). Tullio was great too - he always is - but Blake really stepped up."

Schnittker earned 16 assists for Buffalo Grove (27-7) while setter Noah Ricchetti had 24 assists for the Broncos (31-2).

Now both teams head to the state playoffs, and Ridenour says he's interested to see how his team responds to the defeat.

"We'll see what their reaction is to this moment," Ridenour said. "It's all up to the guys now. This (loss) could turn out to be a good thing for us, or we could struggle. We'll have to wait and see."

Cruz said he felt like the Bison had something to prove.

"I think they thought they had it," he said. "But we went out and took it from them."