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Fifer’s return carries Sandburg to invite win
Updated: May 7, 2011 7:44PM
If this weekend’s Lincoln-Way East tournament was an audition, Sandburg’s Scott Fifer won’t have to wait long for his callback.
Fifer, a 6-foot-2 junior setter who had missed the entire season save a few early practices with a torn meniscus in his right knee, had 14 assists and a kill to lead the Eagles to a 25-11, 25-14 victory over the hosts in the championship match.
Fifer played in all five tournament matches for No. 3 Sandburg (26-3), which defeated Warren 25-11, 27-25 and New Trier 25-21, 25-18 to reach the finals.
“The knee feels good,” Fifer said. “This was my first injury. It’s not fully healed, but I’m making some progress. It’s about 70 percent.”
Fifer showed no ill effects on the court, however. He spread the ball to five different hitters in Game 1 against Lincoln-Way East as Sandburg used an 11-1 run to break a 5-5 tie.
The Eagles opened Game 2 with 11 straight points and later led 19-6, prompting both benches to clear.
“I can’t describe it,” Fifer said. “Coming back feels awesome. I can’t put it into words.”
Lincoln-Way East coach Kris Fiore had no trouble finding the words to describe his team’s performance.
“It was ugly,” he said. “We said before the match that we would have to be consistent with our serve receive and serve aggressively. We served the worst we have all year and our serve receive wasn’t consistent.
“We fully deserved the beating we got,” he added.
Kevin Groeper (two blocks) and Andrew Muys each had five kills for Sandburg, which also got three blocks from 6-9 middle Tommy Carmody and four kills, two blocks and two aces from Jason Fox.
Greg Magrum had six kills and Jason Garnett had three kills for Lincoln-Way East (25-6).
“We came out strong,” Fifer said. “Everyone was clicking. When we played them before it was a real close match. They’re a real good team. Everyone was just on today.”
Sandburg coach Sean Airola was noncommittal whether Fifer would remain the Eagles primary setter. Sophomore Nick Bendell had been starting in Fifer’s absence and led the Eagles to several impressive wins and the championship of the Tiger Classic at WW South.
“It’s a good problem to have,” Airola said. “Nick keeps things simple, but the guys responded to the complexity Scott brings to the offense. Nick is going to be a good player, but he is only a sophomore. I’m leaning toward Scott.”
New Trier (26-5) defeated Naperville North 25-14, 23-25, 15-8 for third place. The Huskies dropped a heartbreaker to Lincoln-Way East in the semifinals, 22-25, 25-23, 15-13, undone in part by some controversial calls in Game 3.
Buffalo Grove (26-5), which lost to New Trier 31-29 in the third game at Wheaton Warrenville South, bounced back from a 15-13 loss to New Trier in the third game of their quarterfinal Saturday to defeat Maine South 25-22, 25-17 for fifth place.
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