Boys volleyball: Fremd outlasts Buffalo Grove in 3 sets

After losing to Buffalo Grove earlier this season, visiting Fremd was looking for some revenge Thursday night when it met the Bison in a Mid-Suburban League crossover game between the two second-place boys volleyball teams.

The match was a dogfight from start to finish with the Vikings winning the first set 25-21 only to see Buffalo Grove (15-6) outscore them 7-2 down the stretch to win Set 2 by a final score of 25-23.

But with the deciding set tied at 22-22, Fremd (10-4) came through when the chips were down as the Vikings scored the final 3 points, including an ace by junior Aaron Sallade, to seal an exciting 25-22 victory.

Sallade had a huge game overall for Fremd with 7 aces, 5 kills, and 4 blocks while senior teammate Marcin Warzecha was 12-for-13 hitting with 7 kills.

"It just came down to which team made fewer mistakes. The last time we played them we didn't have our setter (Marco Boscolo), and he's our only setter," said Sallade, whose team will face Palatine or Elk Grove in the IHSA regionals on June 8.

"We didn't feel like we deserved to lose that last game against them (Buffalo Grove), and we didn't want to make that same mistake again."

After a huge 9-1 run gave the Vikings a 19-16 lead in the second set, Buffalo Grove senior Jack Franz and teammate Piotr Wymoczyl came alive on the attack as the resilient Bison forced a decisive third set.

A kill by junior Daniel Feder closed out the victory for Buffalo Grove in Set 2 after a big block by teammate Nicolas Skinkys moments earlier had given the Bison the lead for keeps.

But when all was said and done, it was Fremd that triumphed as sophomore Camden Seaver (21-for-28 hitting) had 6 kills and 3 blocks to help pave the way to victory. Senior Greg Harmon had 5 kills and 2 aces along with 3 aces from teammate Matt Caro. Boscolo was a perfect 69-for-69 setting with 23 assists while Caro also had a team-high 5 digs.

"I think they (Buffalo Grove) are the No. 4 seed in our sectional so we knew we were playing a really good team and that good team brought out a better team in us tonight," said Fremd coach Curt Pinley, whose team never trailed in the first set.

"We had a little bit of that factor of losing to them earlier in the season and we wanted a little bit of revenge. But the bottom line was I just told them to be excited and play consistent and I think we did both of those things tonight."