Boys volleyball: Lake County roundup

Aware of Hersey's hard-hitting volleyball players and their potential to intimidate, Mundelein coach George Dressen Jr. pulled most of his Mustangs into the hallway so they couldn't watch their opponent warm up Tuesday.

"We tried to eliminate that mental edge (Hersey) could get by having a team watch them pound balls," Dressen said. "I think that helped us."

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.

Mundelein (13-25) played without a pair of starters, including senior outside hitter Jace Mattson, who's on a European vacation, and freshman right side Trevon Jackson, who sat for unspecified reasons.

"We've been playing well for the last week and a half or so," said Dressen, whose team ousted No. 14 Lakes on Saturday. "The boys have really come into their own with all the changes we've had to make for all different reasons through the course of the season. We went through a lot of lineup changes."

Mundelein got 4 kills from senior outside hitter Jake Langlie and 3 kills apiece from senior middles Roman Tkachuk and Brian Walters. Anthony Fiore set 46 of 48 with 11 assists and served 6 of 6.

"I'm so proud of them right now," Dressen said of his players. "This is one of those times where you lose the match, but you still feel like you did your best."

Lake Zurich d. Buffalo Grove: At Lake Zurich, the 15th-seeded Bears pulled off the upset.

Lake Zurich beat the third-seeded Bison 25-15, 25-20 to advance to tonight's 6 p.m. regional final against No. 6 Palatine.

Palatine d. Libertyville: At Lake Zurich, the sixth-seeded Pirates prevailed 25-19, 23-25, 25-20 to earn a berth in tonight's regional championship match against No. 15 Lake Zurich.

No. 11 Libertyville finished 22-15.

Deerfield d. Stevenson: At Warren, the ninth-seeded Patriots saw their season end with a 28-26, 27-25 loss in a regional semifinal.

Stevenson (21-16) received 10 kills from Grant Maleski and five apiece from Jesse Kesner and Justin Leonard. Luke Feder had 10 digs.

Stevenson d. Chicagoland Jewish: At Warren, the Patriots' first of two matches on the night resulted in a 25-10, 25-9 win over the No. 24 seed.

Grant Maleski had 8 kills for Stevenson.

Barrington d. Warren: At Warren, the top-seeded Broncos won the regional semifinal 25-19, 25-16, ending the 18th-seeded Blue Devils' season.