Boys volleyball: Fremd rallies to win final 2 sets, knock off Stevenson
Fremd’s boys volleyball players wore predominantly white jerseys with green numbers in a nonconference home match Wednesday night.
So did Stevenson’s visiting Patriots.
Spectators watched the squads, fittingly, split the first 2 sets in Palatine.
What Fremd coach Tracy Harding saw in the last two sets, as her Vikings threaded together a 21-25, 25-18, 25-19 win:
“Guys playing from the heart and for each other,” she said after Fremd improved to 2-0. “That’s all I ask from them each time we compete.”
Stevenson (3-3), coming off a runner-up finish at last weekend’s Joliet West invite with a shorthanded crew, went up 17-11 in the first set on a point in which senior libero/defensive specialist Atticus Gurel made a sprawling, sensational dig near the scorer’s table, prompting Harding to call a timeout.
The Patriots secured their largest lead at 21-14 and won the first set on a kill by junior outside hitter Shresth Mohapatra (7 kills, 8 digs).
“We looked at each between the first and second sets and some of us said, ‘We’ve got this,’” said Fremd senior OH Ethan Garst (match-high 11 kills, 5 digs). “We didn’t say much. We didn’t have to say much.
“We knew we’d be fine as long as we stayed together, stayed focused.”
Fremd senior hitter Alex Ma (5 kills) came up big near the middle of the second set, hammering kills to up the Vikings’ leads to 12-9, 15-10 and 17-13. A fearless down-the-line ace by Fremd junior setter David Otgonbat (8 assists) stretched the advantage to 23-17.
“David was a leader by example before tonight,” Harding said. “Tonight he talked with his teammates, over communicated, got into it, got excited. I’d never heard him so vocal.”
A kill by Garst on set point forced a third set.
The Vikes skipped to an 8-3 lead in the decider and were never seriously threatened after Stevenson had trailed only 16-14.
“Fremd got better and better after losing the first set, and we got tighter and tighter,” admitted Patriots coach Eric Goolish, a 2001 Conant graduate. “We overachieved at the Joliet West tournament last weekend, beating Bolingbrook in a semifinal; we did the opposite today.
“Too many errors,” he added. “Too sloppy in sets two and three. But you’re going to get that in volleyball in March and early April. We have to be cleaner.”
Fremd junior libero/DS Jonathan Kim had an outstanding night, amassing a match-high 14 digs and constantly lifting his teammates’ spirits between points.
“For me, it’s confidence,” Kim said of what augments his game. “I play hard. But what helped us a lot tonight was our team energy. That and playing from the heart.”
Freshman OH George Sallade had 3 kills for Fremd, and 6-foot-4 sophomore OH David Stankiewicz elevated for 2 block kills. Sophomore middle/OH Chase Hinojosa paced the victors in aces with 3, while junior teammate Aarav Parikh lofted a team-high 12 assists.
Fremd OH/libero Martin Hristov — yet another sophomore on Harding’s varsity — finished with 6 digs.
“What’s exciting is how young we are,” Harding said, adding Garst is the Vikings’ lone returning starter. “We defeated a very good Stevenson team tonight, a team with exceptional players.”
Stevenson junior setter Zolbayar Munkhbat racked up 34 assists to go with his 7 digs. Senior OH Tommy Hwang led the Pats’ attack with 9 kills.