Boys volleyball: Buffalo Grove sweeps Hersey
Ask any high school coach of any sport or any level and they'll be quick in telling you how much they've missed doing those jobs since the COVID-19 pandemic put prep sports on hold 13 months ago.
"You tell them and you remind them this is what you missed last year," Buffalo Grove boys volleyball coach Tim Kosiek said. "You missed the experience of coming in here into the gym playing one if your biggest rivals and you need to embrace that. You need to stay loose and enjoy that cause these are memories."
Kosiek's Bison squad took heed to their coach's words Tuesday evening and created a victorious memory on their home floor in obtaining a 2-0 sweep over archival Hersey 25-17, 25-21.
The win placed both teams at 1-1 in Mid-Suburban East play on the young 2021 season.
"We've had a few matches and we've had our ups and downs so far this season and really we haven't played for two years so it's a matter of making errors and that's what's been making the difference," Kosiek said.
The difference that gave Buffalo Grove (4-3 overall) game one came on an 11-3 charge that took control from the Huskies. It began with four straight kills from juniors Connor Dell and Piotr Wymoczyl, and seniors Aaron Pattis and Jack Franz that propelled BG to a 19-13 advantage. After Hersey (1-3 overall) pulled within 22-17, three straight points by the home team capped off by sophomore Colsen Castle's ace sealed the deal.
It would be back-to-back kills from Dell and Wymoczyl that got the Bison the second game after an 8-2 Hersey surge that pulled them within 23-21 that featured three of Drew Zagorski's 4 kills.
Dell, who led BG with 7 kills, and an ace, credited his teammates' positive mindset as a large contribution to the positive result.
"(It's) making sure we're always keeping each other up, not putting each other down and it really showed," Dell said.
"We've been really eager to get out on the court and it's just great to be back and we're glad we could get a win tonight."
Franz added 6 kills for Buffalo Grove while Wymoczyl added 2 blocks and an ace to his 6 kills. Nate Meyer chipped in 4 kills and a dig for Hersey.