Boys volleyball: Barrington downs Fremd, closes in on MSL West title

Barrington knew which direction it wanted to go Wednesday. And for the Broncos it was the Ridgeway.

Ben Ridgeway came up with 9 kills to lead Barrington past Fremd 25-18, 25-23 in Palatine. The win moved Barrington (19-7, 8-1) to within one victory of capturing the Mid-Suburban West boys volleyball title.

"Fremd was tough tonight," Barrington coach Rob Ridenour said. "It was a fun atmosphere to play in. I thought they really brought it, but I was happy the way our guys responded to that pressure."

Barrington was down in both games but rallied in both thanks to its play up front, especially from Ridgeway.

The junior, who had surgery last summer on both of his knees, showed that he is fully recovered. Especially with his play in Game 2.

"It is good to be back," Ridgeway said. "I got my knees all cleared up last July. I am getting back to it now."

Ridenour said that Ridgeway has shown vast improvement after being injured last summer.

"Ben had a great night offensively," Ridenour said. "He has turned the corner and is getting healthier and healthier. The whole season has been a slow climb back to being healthy. And tonight you saw what he can do."

Barrington found itself trailing 16-15 in Game 1 when the Broncos began to rally. They scored the next 4 points to close out the game on a 10-3 run to win 25-23.

It was an inspired Fremd team in Game 2. Jacked up by a very loud Vikings boys lacrosse team which came by to watch after its practice, Fremd (13-8, 5-4) jumped out to a 4-0 lead.

Fremd built a 14-10 advantage behind Martin Michalski, Jason Hajdukovic and Mitchell Sheehan. That's when Ridgeway took over.

Barrington went to Ridgeway on three consecutive plays and he scored kills on each. Despite that, Fremd was able to climb back ahead 20-17.

"I just have more confidence out there," Ridgeway said. "I wanted the ball. Fremd kept fighting back, but we pushed back harder."

With the Vikings doubling up to block Ridgeway, Barrington moved the ball around to Gabe Hartke and Ved Arnad to tie the game at 23. Ridgeway then had a massive kill and the Broncos forced an error to end the match.

"Ridgeway was performing really well," said Barrington setter Kyle Velasquez, who had 30 assists. "He was hitting .700 in the first set, so we didn't see why not to keep feeding him. When Ridgeway heats up, it opens up our whole offense."

Hartke had 8 kills and an ace while Arnad had 6 kills. Michalski had 7 kills for Fremd, Hajdukovic had 4 kills and Justin Spiekermann had 3 kills.

"We were in the lead in the majority of both sets," said Fremd coach Kurt Pinley. "I think that says a lot from when we played them earlier. We are improving quite a bit, but we still have a little ways to go."