Fremd loses to Marist in two games at the IHSA boys’ volleyball state tournament

Vikings proved they belonged despite a record that wasn't as lofty as that of some of the competition.

Published By John Juettner on 6/04/2010

Fremd readies for its match against Marist.
Story and Photo By: Charlie Burroughs
      The Fremd Vikings proved they belonged in the power packed IHSA boys’ volleyball state quarterfinals Friday night at Hoffman Estates High School.
      Going in the Vikings had more losses (12) than any other team left in the tourney, and three times as many as their opponent, Marist. When the Vikings let a 6-6 tie turn into a 21-7 deficit in game one against the RedHawks neither coach Curt Pinley nor senior outside hitter Brian Allen had doubts they belonged in front of the fan-packed crowd. 
      “Obviously it’s not where you want to be at any point in a state match,” Pinley said of the 15-1 point drop. “My bigger concern at that point was to right the ship for game two.”
      In game two the Vikings showed why they belonged in this game with the Redhawks on the first point - a block kill by senior outside hitter Eric Ciura. Fremd captured a 10-6 lead after junior outside hitter Peter Ninchich’s ace forced a timeout. From that moment on the Vikings and RedHawks exchanged leads three times and were forced to a tie eight times.
      Allen (eight kills) said his team came into the game with energy, but once the warm ups ended the reality of the game came full force for his team. However, in game two his team overcame those nerves.
      With the score deadlocked at 19, though, the RedHawks went on a 6-2 run to complete the match, 25-21. The RedHawks (36-4) were led by senior outside hitter Casey Gray with 11 kills and junior OPP Kevin Morrison’s three aces totaling 11 points mostly from game one’s devastating run.
      Despite the close loss in game two Pinley isn’t satisfied with just a feels good to be here story. He knew his team deserved to be there.
      “You know what? I suppose you get to a point where you’re happy just to get down state,” he said. “We focused hard and that wasn’t our goal; we wanted to get to tomorrow. Our goal was to bring home some hardware.” 
      And why not? The Vikings (25-13) had been in three consecutive Mid-Surban League championship games, came off a 30-7 season a year ago, and made a late-season switch to the lineup they felt gave them a competitive advantage. That switch was taking Allen from the middle to outside, a coaching decision Pinley said was risky but necessary to make a run deep in the state tournament. It paid off when the Vikings won two games in the tournament in two matches and finished off Lake Park in the sectional finals after losing by ten in game one.
      When all was said in done, to Pinley and Allen, it just felt like where the Vikings belonged after a terrific season.
      “It feels great,” Allen said. “Everybody on that team has been working extremely hard to get to this point. I feel that we definitely deserve to be here.”