Schaumburg sweeps Barrington for regional championship

Saxons win first regional championship since 2006.

Published By John Juettner on 5/26/2010

Schaumburg displays its regional championship plaque.
Story and Photos By: Charlie Burroughs
      Passing, setting, and going for the kill.
      The Schaumburg boys’ volleyball team executed these game fundamentals en route to their two-game sweep and regional championship match victory over Barrington on Wednesday night. The Saxons won consecutive close battles by scores of 25-20 and 25-22.
      The difference in the match was Saxons ability to reset the majority of the Barrington’s offensive fronts. On four occasions during the second game junior setter Blake Nelson was able to take the second volley and place it perfectly for senior outside hitter Sanup Desai’s kill. With a 19-17 lead in the second game Nelson took advantage of the play’s familiarity with a fake set to Desai and landed a soft kill in between two unsuspecting Broncos.
      “I had a lot of faith in the setters to put the ball there, they’ve been doing it all year,” Desai said. “It helps with our consistency when the sets are there.”
      Desai led the team with eight kills followed closely by teammate senior outside hitter Glenn Frost, who had six kills including a pair of aces in the first game.
      “There’s times when people set to Glenn and I’m thinking it’s in the stands,” Schaumburg coach Kyle Reid said. “He has the ability just to jump and reach and keep the ball in play. We go on to live another day and we get points out of that, somehow.”
      Even though the Saxon offense carried them throughout the games, both games ended on poor execution on the Bronco side. To end the first match a Bronco player lost balance and stepped in to Saxon boundaries and the second match ended on three consecutive non-kills.
      Barrington coach Rob Ridenour was handed a yellow card early in the second match for a lengthy disagreement with the side judge. Ridenour later acknowledged no matter what the call his team didn’t make enough plays during the game.
      Ridenour said with his team’s journey coming to an end he was proud the way the seniors led the inexperienced sophomore group this year. This was evident in the play by sophomore setter Taylor Ganzer and sophomore middle blocker Tommy Leonard, who connected on a few assist-kills in the match.
      The Saxons’ regional title is their first since 2006, and they will continue on to play Fremd on Friday in the sectional semifinals. Fremd defeated Wheaton Academy in three frames in their regional championship Wednesday night and hold a 2-1 record against the Saxon’s this season.

A Schaumburg player digs out a Barrington kill attempt in front of the Saxon bench.