Girls volleyball: Gavin brothers bowl goes Fremd’s way, Vikings advance to supersectional
History was made on Thursday night when two teams coached by brothers met for the first time in a Class 4A girls volleyball sectional championship in the northwest suburbs.
Fremd coach Peter Gavin's Vikings were the No. 1 seed while Dan Gavin's Palatine PIrates were No. 3 at Barrington High School.
Their father Bill Gavin, who makes as many of his sons' games as he can during the season, was situated between the school's two cheering sections on the south end of the Barrington gymnasium wearing a shirt that read Fremd on the front and Palatine on the back.
"I told my son (Pete) before the match, I hope it goes three sets and ends in a tie," Bill said with a laugh.
Well, he was getting his wish in the first set which was tied for the first four points and 15 times overall before the Vikings broke a 23-23 tie with a kill from Akshara Jay and an error by Palatine.
Fremd then had easier sailing in the second set, opening up a 14-4 lead en route to a 25-23, 25-15 triumph over its crosstown rival (29-8).
The Vikings (29-7) advance to the Elite Eight for the second straight season and will face Libertyville (32-7) in the DeKalb supersectional Monday.
"I can't believe it," said senior middle hitter Emily Karmazin, who led Fremd with 6 kills and 2 blocks. "We're going (to the quarterfinals) a second straight time. It's crazy how this ended between our two teams (Fremd and Palatine). It was a super fun match."
It was a unique match with the two brothers who work in the same special education program at Palatine High School.
"This is the weirdest feeling I've ever had as a coach because of the people on the other side (Palatine)," Pete Gavin said. "That includes Brooklyn and Kiya Chesak who I've known since they were little and now they babysit for me. And in addition to Dan, the rest of his coaching staff are good friends, too.
"I love my brother. He is an amazing coach and almost everything I've learned was from him and Curt Pinley (former Fremd hall of fame coach who was at the match) and Joyce Richardson (assistant at Palatine). I respect them so much."
The first set was tied at every point from 15 to 21.
Back-to back kills by Jay made it 23-21 before Palatine got a kill from Baeley Berry and a floor penalty to tie it at 23.
"It's a great feeling," said Jay, who had 5 kills and 4 assists. "Our team has worked super hard for this all season. It was our goal the whole time. I'm really happy we pulled it off in the second set and cleaned things up. It was really a great win overall."
In that second set, Fremd used 5 straight service points from freshman Reese Newton for the 14-4 lead.
Back-to-back aces by Harper Neill (3 kills, 3 aces, 8 digs), made it 21-8 and the lead grew to 22-9 before Palatine answered with 5 straight points, including 4 service points from Brooklyn Chesak. Her serving streak included a block and a kill from Zoe Johnson and a kill by Berry (assists to Alaina Ratay), whose kill made it 24-15 before Jay ended the match with a blast off a set from Madison Drenth (11 assists).
Fremd libero Ella Castelloni was 17 of 18 serve receiving and had 8 digs.
Johnson, the MSL West Player of the Year, clubbed 8 kills for the Pirates.
"The second game got away from us pretty early on and we really never found a rhythm," said Dan Gavin. "Fremd had a lot to do with that and I was really proud that when we got down pretty big we didn't roll over. We fought back and made them take a timeout.
"You hate to be searching for a moral victory after your season just ended but I'm disappointed for the girls because I know how badly they wanted this. But I can never be disappointed in them. They are just such high-character kids."
Now Dan will root for his brother's team in DeKalb.
"I can be happy for my brother," he said. "He does a great job with that program. Year in and year out they're one of the best teams around and they showed it again tonight. Second year in a row going there (Elite Eight) and I will be rooting for them."
He was equally as proud of his team which was the undefeated MId-Suburban West champion.
"They were a great group of kids," Dan Gavin said. "They have bought in all season. And most of all I think they just love each other. We haven't had any of that drama behind the scenes. They all look out for each other and trust each other. It’s been a really fun group to coach, I'm going to miss them."
Karmazin didn't miss many of her opportunities on attack Thursday, going 9 of 11.
"She's been outstanding in the playoffs," said fourth-year coach Pete Gavin, who led Fremd to its sixth sectional and his second. “She is a gamer for sure. I'm really proud of her. It's been really fun coaching her the last four years. She came up as freshman year and played a little bit in the postseason and to watch her growth has been so much fun."
Thursday was certainly a fun night for Fremd girls volleyball.
"It was a lot of fun,"Pete Gavuin said. "We had awesome support here. It was great to see all the different athletes from Fremd show up. A lot of players from the football team were here even with their big (playoff) game (Friday) they made it a point to come out and it means the world to us.
"I told our girls before the game how it's been a few magical years and how much they've earned the right to be here with all the work they've put in. At the same time, I said so do those Palatine girls because, man, they have gotten incredibly better. Oh my gosh, it was a heck of a first set. That team is so scrappy.
“I thought we played cleaner in the second set. I've seen Palatine play and I know they're going to be really disappointed with the way they played because I know they are better than that. But they should be really proud of themselves. What an amazing season for them. We knew it was going to be a battle and that first set for sure was."
Schaumburg Christian d. Marian Central Catholic: Third-year coach Steve Burmaster's Conquerors of Schaumburg Christian, the No. 1 seed, won their first sectional since 2016, defeating Marian Central Catholic 28-26, 20-25, 25-15, at the Lycee Francais de Chicago sectional.
SCA (26-4) meets No. 2 Stockton (34-5) in Monday's Woodstock Marian Central Catholic supersectional.