Boys volleyball: Grove, Neuqua Valley getting in a groove

Jeremy Grove kept hitting and hoping.

Faith his spikes were too hot to handle was a plan that worked for Neuqua Valley on Friday at the state volleyball quarterfinals at Hoffman Estates. Grove's 31 kills, the bulk of them via setter Andrew Schlegel, lifted the Wildcats into Saturday's semifinals with a tight 26-24, 23-25, 25-23 victory over Lincoln-Way West.

Neuqua Valley (32-7), forced into three games a third straight match and for the 10th time this season, advanced to Saturday's 10 a.m. semifinal against three-time defending state champion Glenbard West, which dispatched Barrington in two sets.

The Hilltoppers' block will be challenged by the 6-foot-1 Grove. The wiry senior and his hammer right hand went on the attack 57 times, repeatedly running and soaring to slam a Schlegel set.

Six straight times at the end of Game 3 the Wildcats went to Grove. Despite strong opposition at the net by Lincoln-Way West's Chris Dargan, Grove delivered a crosscourt winner to send Neuqua into the Final Four for the first time since placing third in 2008.

"I don't mind it," Grove said of shouldering the offensive load, though 6-6 middle Jeremy Cardenas added 13 kills.

"Obviously, like, the tight matches you get nervous, but I'm not going to tip or anything like that," Grove said. "I'm just going to swing as hard as I can and hope, like I was doing in the last set there. When it was 23-21 in the third set I actually hit one out, by a lot, and I was like, set someone else. Then (Schlegel) set me again and I got a kill."

A 5-10 senior setter, Schlegel had no idea whether his 39 assists were a personal high. He was more interested in the bottom line, which often leads to Grove.

"Jeremy's probably the easiest person to set because you throw it up and he'll do something magical with it," Schlegel said.

Neuqua and Lincoln-Way West (30-9) forced 12 tied scores in Game 1, the last at 24-24 before Grove drove a kill deep into the Warriors' side, and Neuqua won on a hitting error.

In Game 2 Lincoln-Way West took a 7-6 lead and held it for the 25-23 win despite a late Grove kill and Ryan McGladdery block.

Neuqua earned some Game 3 space and momentum when libero Francisco Comas took serve to spread a 13-12 lead to 17-13. Comas made 10 digs, Grove and Schlegel each adding 6.

"I told the blockers, every time, if it's an outside you've got to block line. I want every ball to be sent up the middle, try to have every single hit be funneled to me. In my opinion I think I'm the best defender out there," Comas said.

Lincoln-Way West's plucky 5-11 outside hitter Ben Pluskota scored 21 kills with 2 blocks as the Warriors entered Neuqua's familiar, three-game discomfort zone and met what Wildcats coach Erich Mendoza said is his team's theme: grit.

"Even during the playoffs, we went to three against Naperville North, went to three against Metea (Valley), went to three against Hinsdale Central," Mendoza said. "Really, all of our playoff run, it has not been easy."