Prospect’s boys volleyball team already seems to have Buffalo Grove’s number this spring.
The Knights picked up their second victory over the Bison in five days, this time for top honors at Saturday’s six-team Elk Grove tourney.
No. 6 Prospect (6-0) beat Buffalo Grove 15-12, 15-11 in the championship of the round-robin tourney, completing a five-match Saturday sweep.
Chris Pontarelli led the way with 13 kills, while Kevin Kowall added 11 kills for a team-high 50 for the day.
“We really had to play tough defense. They pushed us and we had to buckle down” said Prospect coach Mike Riedy. “We’re still trying to get in the groove. What lineup do we want to run, who do we need to go where, where our strengths are.
“They are more comfortable with each other and they’re also more flexible. I’ve started moving things around with a couple of different lineups (and) they’re learning to switch back and forth between the lineups without totally shutting down.”
On Tuesday, the Knights beat the Bison in three games in a Mid-Suburban crossover match.
Buffalo Grove, playing without its starting middle hitter and setter in Saturday’s title game, displayed considerable improvement from Tuesday.
Senior Brian Gerken led the Bison with 10 kills, while Scott Miller added six. Setter Matt Aiello, filling in for regular Brent Agran, had six aces.
“I thought we played an outstanding match considering the situation that we were in,” said Bison coach Kyle Reid, whose team is now 5-2. “I thought we played much better this game. I’m very excited about how we’ve improved in just one week.”
Not only against Prospect. Buffalo Grove also had a much-improved performance on Saturday against Rolling Meadows, a team it slipped past earlier in the week.
“When we played Meadows, it was 16-14 in the third game. Today, when we played them, it was 15-1, 15-9. We improved dramatically,” said Reid.
Buffalo Grove rolled into Saturday’s final with a 4-0 tourney record after beating Hersey, Elk Grove, Wheeling and Rolling Meadows–each in two games. Prospect also had two-game sweeps over the same foes.
Rolling Meadows (4-4) finished third overall with a 3-2 record for the day, including a 15-5, 8-15, 15-6 win over the host Grenadiers in Saturday’s final game.
