Boys volleyball: New guys nail it for Fremd
It's the first year of competitive volleyball for Fremd juniors Jason Hajdukovic and Justin Spiekermann.
Judging from Tuesday's night's results at Buffalo Grove, the future for the two outside hitters - and their teammates - looks extremely bright.
Playing their first high school match, Hajdukovic and Spiekermann helped lead the Vikings to a season-opening 25-20, 24-26, 25-17 Mid-Suburban League crossover victory over the Bison.
"Intense," said Hajdukovic of his impressions of his first match. "It more than exceeded my expectations."
"I'm trying to step into the 'new guy' thing," Spiekermann said. "And add what I can to all of the experienced players who have been here for a while."
Standout Aaron Peterson, a senior middle, paced Fremd on offense with 14 kills on 25-of-30 hitting.
"We expected what Buffalo Grove always has, a good team year after year" Peterson said. "But tonight we were able to bring it."
The first set was a streaky affair as both teams shook off some early hitting woes by flashing some terrific defense.
Fremd took a 9-point lead but BG fought back behind the hitting of senior outside Brian Franz and junior outside/right side Marty Gross.
The Bison closed to within 3 points late after Gross earned a point on a block.
However, a cross-court kill from Hajdukovic off a set from Jacob Peterson gave the first game to the visitors.
BG went on to win Game 2 after rallying to tie the score at 24-24. Franz the hit a kill that rode the top of the net for a few seconds before falling untouched on the Fremd side of court. Then an ace by Ethan Sofier, who had 4 on the night, knotted up the match.
"The guys didn't let down tonight," said Bison coach Tim Kosiek, "And they didn't give up on each other."
Due to the hitting of Aaron Peterson and some untimely errors from BG, Fremd controlled the early stages of the third game.
The Bison tried to close the gap, getting some strong play from senior libero Michael Lohse and stellar blocking by Gross.
But Fremd closed out the match on a kill by Aaron Peterson off a set from his brother Jacob.
"For our first match, I thought we were very consistent," said Vikings coach Curt Pinley. "The guys did a nice job on defense and serve receive."
Senior defensive specialist Michael Arango had 6 digs and was 22-of-23 on serve receive for Fremd. Jacob Peterson was 82-of-83 setting with 22 assists while Josh Avelino excelled on defense with 4 digs.
Franz led the way for BG with 12 kills.
"We have a higher ceiling this season," Kosiek said. "Every game we'll be looking for an opportunity to grow. After the match I told them to remember what happened in game two. They came out with an aggressive stance and they didn't let up."
Aaron Peterson pitched in on defense as well for the Vikings with 4 digs.
"In the second game we were making some silly mistakes that were easily cleaned up," Peterson said. "Once we cleaned them up we were able to roll on from there."
Schaumburg d. Prospect: The visiting Saxons came up with a 25-19, 25-19 win as Dan Kaszuba came up with a team-best 8 kills. Other big contributors for Schaumburg included Nathan Thomas (18 assists, 6 digs) and Ryan Regier (6 kills, 6 digs).
Barrington d. Rolling Meadows: The Broncos won the MSL crossover 25-21, 25-12 behind the attack of Michael O'Toole (10 kills) and Gabe Hartke (9). Evan Carroll set the offense with 18 assists while Kyle Vasquez and O'Toole each collected 4 digs.
Hartke served 5 aces and Vasquez 2 while Petar Lumovic and Hartke each had a pair of blocks.
Host Rolling Meadows was led on attack by Art Barczak (5 kills) and Billy Tompkins (3 kills) while Max Sobkowicz and Barczak each had 2 blocks.
Top servers were Sobkowicz (8-8), Max Schertler (4-4), Tompkins (4-4) and Jackson Brossett (9-10). Max Schertler led the Broncos' back row with 5 digs followed by Barczak (4) and Tompkins (2).
Elk Grove d. Hoffman Estates: Shivam Amin (9 kills), Kevin Doyle (5) and Mark Wickstrom (4) led the attack as the host Grens earned a 25-20, 25-21 victory over the Hawks. Ed Gonzalez went 13-for-13 serving with 2 aces and provided 20 setting assist for Elk Grove in its season opener.
Top producers for Hoffman Estates included Marek Gaslorowski (2 kills, 5 blocks), Chris Fermaintt (4 digs, 5-for-5 serving).
Hersey d. Palatine: The defending conference champs got off to a winning start, as Jacob Mailloux (7 kills) and Joe Nugent (5) paced the attack in a 25-19, 25-15 decision. Nugent had a team-best 5 blocks, and Jakub Migus provided 18 assists on 43-for-45 setting.
Mike Seneczko came up with 8 digs for the Huskies, and Mailloux was 5-for-5 serving with a pair of aces.
Wheeling d. Conant: Jared Moser had 9 kills on 16-for-20 hitting to help host Wheeling in a 25-16, 25-9 decision.
Other keys in the attack were Jan Baranowski (5 kills) and Aidan McCoy (4 kills on 6-for-6 hitting to go with 4 blocks).
Jared Urueta had 23 assists on 38-for-38 setting and teammate Joseph Hernandez led the Wildcats with 12 digs. Leading Wheeling's service effort were Alex Ocampo (18-for-18, 3 aces) and Hernandez (14-for-14, 1 ace).
St. Charles East d. St. Viator: Will Heneghan had a team-best 5 kills with 1 dig and Joey Marchiori contributed 10 assists and 2 digs as the Lions came up short against the visiting Saints 25-23, 25-15. Kevin Bopp supplied 3 aces and 3 digs, and Marcus Lannie had 2 kills and 1 block for the Lions.
"Young team, good first match," said St. Viator coach Jim Neill. "Fought well, and there were a lot of good plays. We cannot wait to see what the tournament we are in this weekend brings."