Team effort powers Rolling Meadows to big win

Rolling Meadows stunned Mid-Suburban East rival Prospect on Tuesday in the Niles West boys volleyball regional semifinals.

Down one set and trailing 19-13 in the second, the 11th-seeded Mustangs rallied to defeat the No. 6-seeded Knights 23-25, 27-25, 25-20.

Meadows libero Marc Quezada said he had no doubt about the reason for the upset win.

"Great teamwork," said Quezada. "We were together. We've been working extremely hard in practice and it carried over to the game tonight."

The Mustangs will meet Maine East, which topped Niles West in three sets, for the regional title Wednesday.

Rolling Meadows was led by Jose Cruz, who excelled with 19-of-19 from the service line; he was on serve when the Mustangs made their huge comeback.

"Their number 10 (Cruz) killed us, and so did their defense," said Prospect coach Mike Riedy. "Balls that had been dropping all season - they were dug up tonight. You've got to give all the credit in the world to Meadows."

Prospect senior middle Dane Schweinzger dominated set 1, hitting 8 of his 10 kills in the opening set to give the Knights the lead.

Teammate Eryk Krzyzak had 2 aces and 4 kills in the second set as Prospect opened up a usually insurmountable 6 point lead late.

But Meadows wasn't done.

With Cruz serving, the Mustangs scored 9 of the next 10 points and tied the match when Prospect hit three straight balls out down the stretch.

"We were fired up," said Meadows setter Enrique Avellaneda. "We took the momentum away from them."

The Mustangs (22-15) rallied again in the deciding set, shaking off a reversed official's call late and getting to match point on a Tommy Murphy back-row kill.

A Prospect kill by Kendrick Taves followed, but then a Knights hit into the net gave the match to Meadows.

Krzyzak finished with 3 aces for Prospect.

"Our serve receive just wasn't there tonight," said Riedy. "We allowed them to close."

Quezada led the Meadows defensive effort with 16 digs while teammate Ivan Gonzales had 10.

Murphy finished with a match-high 15 kills on 33-of-35 hitting, while Avellaneda had 9 kills to go along with 26 assists.

"We had the energy right from the start tonight," said Avellaneda, "and once we won the second game, it amped up to an even higher level."

at Vernon Hills: Mundelein put up a creditable effort in its regional semifinal at Vernon Hills, but the 17th-seeded Mustangs couldn't keep up with the No. 2 seed.

Hersey won 25-14, 25-16 to improve to 29-7 and advance to tonight's 6 p.m. championship match against No. 7 Vernon Hills (27-9).

Bart Migus led Hersey with 12 kills and 5 blocks, while Alec Horne had 7 kills. Angelo Coniglio and Matt Hopkins slammed 5 kills each for the Huiskies. Josh Mailloux posted 3 kills and 4 blocks, and Peter Wesolowski dished out 30 assists.

at Elk Grove: The Grens will appear in a regional final on their own floor after topping Niles North 23-25, 25-9, 25-18.

Geoffrey Dybicz (12 kills) and Ray Kraus (28 assists) helped lead the way for the Grens. Connor Emmerich had 9 kills and 7 blocks, Anthony Prochenski had a team-best 12 digs and Kraus went 18-for-20 serving with 3 aces.

Elk Grove (25-11) will meet Glenbrook North, which eliminated Maine West with a 29-27, 25-16 decision, on Wednesday for the regional title.

at Warren: Mid-Suburban West champ Barrington topped the host Blue Devils 25-19, 25-16 to earn a spot in Wednesday regional title matchup against Deerfield, which advanced by edging Stevenson 28-26, 27-25.

at Lake Zurich: The regional host Bears, seeded No. 15 in the Antioch sectional, upset No. 3 seed Buffalo Grove.

Lake Zurich will meet Palatine in Wednesday's regional championship matchup.

The Pirates got an 18-kill effort from Ryan Campbell in holding off Libertyville 25-19, 23-25, 25-20.

Tyler Kendzior contributed 11 kills and Zach Wheaton had 8, while setter Jake Boldog had 36 assists.

at Conant: Wednesday's regional championship will feature Lake Park against Glenbard North.

The Lancers beat Streamwood 25-14, 25-19, while the Panthers topped Schaumburg 25-20, 25-23.

Addison Trail regional: Leyden handled Westinghouse 25-15, 30-28 to earn a spot against the host Blazers in Wednesday's regional championship.

at Wheeling: St. Viator earned a spot in the regional final against Zion-Benton by topping Lake Forest 25-18, 25-21.

The Lions were seeded at No. 12 i nthe Antioch sectional, while Lake Forest earned a No. 5 seed.

In the other matchup Tuesday at Wheeling, Fremd put up quite a battle against No. 4 seed Zion-Benton before the Zee-Bees prevailed 25-18, 10-25, 25-21.