Bison Claim MSL Title Win Over Barrington

Why in the world is Warren on the boys volleyball schedule Thursday? Don't the Bison know they have to get ready for regional play starting Monday?

It's simple really. Bison coach Matt Aiello didn't want his mighty team to get too high following Wednesday night's MSL title game at home.

So BG won't be able to celebrate its MSL title for too long. The thrilling 25-21, 29-27 victory over West champion Barrington will help this 29-match winner get ready for both Warren and the Deerfield Regional.

As Aiello tried to explain, his club has so many weapons to choose from this Bison team is just hard to defend.

One of those weapons on Wednesday night was middle blocker Sam Wacker. The junior helped his team with five kills and four blocks.

"Barrington is a good team,'' Wacker said. "We knew we had to fight tonight.''

Wacker got help at the net from fellow junior Michael Starzec (three kills, seven blocks). Both Wacker and Starzec had their hands full with Barrington's power hitters Matt Logue and Tommy Leonard.

"We needed a big push there,'' Wacker said. "We still have a lot of work ahead of us."

The Bison (29-5) never trailed in the first set. Buffalo Grove opened up the game a little with Lukas Karch serving (20 assists). Starzec had one kill and Chris Shanahan (MSL West player of the year) and Starzec combined on a block to open up a 20-16 lead.

"We have hitters everywhere,'' Aiello said. "We are just a well-rounded team. We did make some hitting errors, but some of the credit goes to Barrington."

Set two was close the entire way. On a gorgeous block from Starzec, it was 12-10 Buffalo Grove. The Broncos managed to tie this set up but never gained the lead.

Also helping the Bison attack were Jon Ward (six kills), Jamie Schnittker (seven kills) and libero Cameron Castle (13 digs).

In addition to player of the year Shanahan, the Bison placed Karch, Ward, Schnittker and Castle on the MSL All-Conference team.