Boys volleyball: Confident Hersey tops Fremd for Palatine title

The Hersey boys volleyball team has flourished through quite a heavy workload the last three days.

It's been a little stressful, but extremely successful.

Thursday, the Huskies got a signature victory on the road over a very talented Libertyville team.

Then Friday night in pool play, they won their first three matches in the Palatine-Schaumburg invite, leading them into Saturday's Gold Division semifinals.

So after Hersey dispatched Joliet West 25-20, 25-13 in the semis, it might have been expected for the players to be feeling slightly fatigued.

"I'm not going to lie, we were a little drained mentally and physically," said Hersey's Gregory Kubon, who led the way for his team in Pool D Friday with 12 kills and 7 aces.

"Going in to the final match in a tough five game tourney, we had to find a way to push through and come out with a win. And that's exactly what we did."

If the Huskies were tired at that point, it sure didn't show. They were on top of their game, defeating Fremd 25-15, 25-16 to win the invitational championship.

It probably didn't hurt that the Huskies, who improved to 18-1, won all six matches Thursday through Saturday without dropping a set.

"I think the Libertyville win was a catalyst for this tournament," said Hersey coach Laura Gerber, "knowing that we'd be coming in facing some tough competition.

"The guys were super confident all the way, and they all played great. They're a great group and it was fun to watch."

Junior setter Nate Caro paced the runner-up Vikings - who had won against Glenbard South in the semis to play for the crown - over the invite's 5 games with 98 assists, while the Raiders defeated Joliet West to take third place.

Both Fremd and Glenbard South were 4-1 in the tournament.

"This is the some of the best we've played all season," said Glenbard South setter Mike Hines, "primarily blocking. We're an undersized team and sometimes we struggle with that, but today we were locked in. We really had fun."

Hines is one of 13 seniors on the Raiders roster, and he added that "the majority of these seniors started the program in their sophomore year."

It's only the third season of varsity volleyball for Glenbard South, and they've improved from a record of 3-15 two years ago, to 18-18 last year, and now 14-3 this season.

Hines finished with 94 assists over the two days, while teammate Ben Zima had 38 kills and 26 digs.

"This is probably the most consistent we've been," said Raiders coach Chad Grant, "just as far as overall balance and how everyone is producing."

Palatine won the silver flight (good for fifth place) over Prospect, while Lake Zurich took seventh place in the 16-team tournament with a win over Schaumburg.

In the title match, Hersey and Fremd were tied early on, but an ace from Kubon led the Huskies on a run, and they finished of game one with a kill by Justin Arrowood.

A kill by Vikings senior outside hitter Camden Seaver drew Fremd closer midway through the second game, but the Huskies scored 13 of the next 17 points to win handily.

"I thought we played extremely well," said Kubon, "and we were passing the ball well. Passing wins games in my opinion."

For Fremd, Seaver finished with 51 kills on the invite. Classmate Cam Wiehe led the way on defense with 44 digs, while JR Stella contributed to the stellar second place showing with 17 blocks.

Fremd coach Tracy Harding said her team committed "too many errors" against Hersey, but was excited about the Vikings' win over Glenbard South in the semifinals.

"Against Glenbard we played really well," said Harding. "Defensively, the boys played their hearts out."

The Raiders were paced in their 2-set, third place winning triumph over Joliet West by junior Zima, who had an ace then a kill to close out game 1, and Will Mack, who got the final point in game 2.

"We are kind of a small team," added Glenbard South coach Grant, "so we don't rely on just one guy - we rely on everybody. Everybody has been stepping up for us and we're consistently getting better.

"We've won a lot of matches but this is the best I've felt all year about the way we have played."