Stevenson eliminates Mundelein
The Stevenson boys volleyball team set the tone early against No. 2-seeded Mundelein, and the Patriots never looked back in the championship match of the Warren regional on Wednesday.
The No. 10 seed Patriots did have to hold off the Mustangs' push in both games, but they held on for a 25-21, 25-23 two-game victory to upset Mundelein (27-5) and advance to the Palatine sectional semifinals Friday at 7:30 p.m. against Vernon Hills or Lake Forest.
Stevenson (25-12) got rolling in the first game behind the serving of Travis Naftzger as Naftzger (7-for-7, 1 ace) rolled off 5 service points with a block by teammate Bryan Kim in staking the Patriots to an early 11-7 lead.
The lead eventually ballooned to 22-16 on a service point by Zachary Kravits (10-for-10) before the Mustangs cut the gap to 22-20 on a dink shot by senior Mitchell Baumgartner.
But that's as close as Mundelein got as the Pats sealed a 25-21 victory.
"Stevenson has grown since the last time we've seen them and they just outplayed us," said Mundelein coach George Dressen. "This was our last chance to make a run for state with seven senior starters, so they're disappointed. But they had a great season."
The second game unfolded similar to the first game as Stevenson tied its biggest lead at 18-14 behind the serving of Kravits (62-for-62, 16 assists) and a big hit by Kim to end a long rally.
Once again, the Mustangs clawed their way back into the contest as 3 service points by Baumgartner (17-for-20, 6 kills) deadlocked the score at 21-21.
The score moved to 23-23 before the Pats got a sideout to take a 24-23 lead with Naftzger serving for the match. And when a spike by Mundelein went out of bounds the Patriots were celebrating the upset and a trip to sectionals.
"They're a great team, they don't make many errors, and I'm just really proud of how we weathered the storm," said Naftzger, who had a huge stuff shot late in Game 2. "We just kept pushing, and our team motto this year is 'On to the next one' - and it's just great to see how we played."
Senior Patrick Lentz was 11-for-12 hitting with 7 kills for Mundelein while senior teammate Andrew Roscoe was 61-for-61 setting with 18 assists.
Stevenson junior Danny Gescheidle had another solid game with 4 kills while teammates Niki Antonijevic and Kim had 3 kills each. The Pats had lost two two-game matches to the Mustangs in the regular season.
"They're a great team and they were off tonight, and fortunately we were able to win with only 16 assists in two games," said Stevenson coach Tim Crow. "They had two rotations that were not strong, and we were able to take advantage of that."