Elk Groves eliminates Panthers
The regional championship two years ago against Rolling Meadows was nice. But this was something special for these nine Elk Grove seniors.
Hosting their first regional in 15 years, the third-seeded Grens followed up Tuesday's semifinal victory over No. 14 seed St. Charles East, with a 26-24, 25-20 regional championship win against Glenbard North.
Elk Grove (23-8) takes on host and No. 2 seed St. Francis, a 25-15, 25-16 winner against Bartlett on Wednesday, in Friday's 7:30 p.m. sectional semifinal.
"A bunch of us were part of it two years ago, but we really wanted it this year for our seniors," Elk Grove senior Jonathan Tompary said after being swarmed by celebrating teammates as he helped raise the regional championship plaque.
"We've been working out butts off the last four years to get this."
And with last season's heartbreaking, three-game regional final loss to West Chicago providing more than enough motivation, seniors Robin Philip, John Condon, Eric Freidenfelds, Bryan Skwirut, Nick Mortensen and the rest are looking to keep this run going for as long as possible.
"It's a completely different team than it was before," said Mortensen, referring to the Grens losing four of their final seven regular-season matches. "It seems like I'm having so much more fun now."
If the Grens continue to play like they did on Wednesday night, it will continue to be. Elk Grove battled through nine ties in Game 1 before Mortensen and Skwirut teamed up for a block on game point.
"We played really tight tonight, I think that was the difference," said Elk Grove coach Dan Windholz. "We knew coming in it was going to be a tough match."
Elk Grove built a 13-7 lead in Game 2 as Tompary rolled off three consecutive service points. The No. 6 seed Panthers (18-13) rallied but could only pull as close as 18-16.
"Our biggest frustration was that we didn't make a run," said Glenbard North coach Dedra DeBenedetti, whose program was denied a first regional crown. "It was point for point, then it would be four of their points to our one."
Junior Kyle Schwetz had a team-leading 11 kills, while Tyler Gustafson added 6 for Glenbard North.