Boys volleyball: Hersey has inside track on MSL East title after win over Buffalo Grove

Before they played volleyball, they talked volleyball.

And talked, and talked and talked.

During school on Thursday, the players of the Hersey boys volleyball team were talking up their big match against rival Buffalo Grove later that day.

They were talking to friends, classmates, teachers, anyone who would listen.

They wanted to get fans in the stands, for Senior Night, and for some support for their biggest match of the season thus far.

"We had to win this game to be on top of the (Mid-Suburban League) East and that's why lots of people were out here supporting us," Hersey hitter Brent Gurvis said. "We told everyone to come and they did and it was awesome."

With the stands packed from top to bottom, Hersey rode the momentum of an enthusiastic home crowd to pull out a hard-fought, hard-hitting three-set tug-of-war against Buffalo Grove, 25-19, 24-26, 25-8.

The Huskies, who are technically tied with Buffalo Grove and Wheeling at 7-2 in the East but could win the division title on head-to-head wins and points by winning out next week, used a mean double block with Gurvis and Tim Nugent to take control of the third game.

Gurvis and Nugent each finished with 3 blocks apiece for Hersey, which improved to 22-5 on the season. Buffalo Grove dropped to 15-12.

"It all started with the energy in that third game," Gurvis said. "Every single play, we attacked the ball and that's when we got that double block going. The fans got hyped and we got hyped and our energy went through the roof."

Gurvis and Nugent teamed up for three straight blocks in the third game to extend a 9-point Hersey lead (13-4) to a nearly insurmountable 12-point lead (16-4).

"We are on a high right now," Nugent said. "We've just got to keep it going."

Nugent also had 9 kills for Hersey. The Huskies were led by Carter Zagorski, who rolled up 16 kills.

Nugent led the defense as well with 6 digs while setter Jakup Migus had 24 assists.

"We really controlled the net with blocking, and we were reading better and anticipating better in that third game," Hersey first-year coach Laura Gerber said. "And we were more composed in the third game. It was a great atmosphere, too. I think everyone knew what we were playing for. It was important that we won this one going into our last (division) game (next week against Prospect).

"This was really fun, especially in front of this crowd."

For Buffalo Grove, Ethan Soifer finished with a match-high 17 kills while Marty Gross added 9 kills.

"It was exciting that a lot of people came out to watch us play," Soifer said. "This game (against Hersey) is always exciting and everyone is always playing hard. We try to compete as hard as we can.

"We just came out on the wrong side this time."

Buffalo Grove defeated Hersey earlier in the season. Buffalo Grove also split with Wheeling (also 7-2 in league play) and Hersey split with Wheeling as well.

All three teams could close out MSL East Division play next week by winning their final division game, but Hersey would be considered the champion due to a tiebreaker based on a combination of head-to-head victories and points for/points against.

"This conference this year has been exciting," Buffalo Grove coach Tim Kosiek said. "Hersey was firing on all cylinders tonight and there is a reason they are one of the top seeds in the sectional and have 20-plus wins.

"I was proud of our guys that we battled until the very end. And the fact that all three teams (Hersey, Buffalo Grove and Wheeling) could finish out at 8-2 next week is a tremendous accomplishment for our guys in such a good conference. We've got a lot of young guys, three sophomores on the court, and we didn't anticipate that we'd be as successful as we've been and that's a really good accomplishment."