Boys volleyball roundup: Libertyville, Hersey among regional winners
Libertyville won its sixth match in a row to win a regional title Thursday at Carmel in Mundelein.
The Wildcats, who had lost three consecutive matches in mid-May, showed they regained their stride by blowing past Grayslake Central 25-19, 25-15. It enabled Libertyville (30-4) to win its first regional title since 2022, when the Wildcats finished fourth in the state.
In the first set, Grayslake Central kept things close early, tying the set at 9-9. Libertyville then ran off 5 consecutive points to pull ahead 14-9. The Rams closed within 15-3, but the Wildcats were able to pull away for the 25-19 win.
In the second set, it was all Libertyville. The Wildcats raced to a 9-0 lead and never looked back as they cruised to the regional title.
Aarav Bamrolia led the Wildcats with 15 assists, 2 blocks, 3 digs, 2 kills and 2 aces while Lukas Slesers had 8 kills. Jackson Kern had 10 digs, 1 assist, 1 kill and 1 ace, and Justin Howell 5 digs, 2 blocks, 2 kills and an assist. Nate Knight added 4 blocks and 4 kills, Tyler Wilson 5 blocks, 2 digs and 4 kills, Jordan Coughlin 3 blocks a dig and 2 kills while Braden Moss had 3 digs and 2 aces.
The Wildcats will meet Barrington in Saturday’s sectional semifinal at Barrington at 11 a.m. The fourth-seeded Broncos beat Stevenson 25-20, 25-20 to win the Vernon Hills regional. The other sectional semifinal, which will follow immediately, will pit second-seeded Lake Zurich against third-seeded New Trier.
Grayslake Central (28-8) was led by Bryce Tupaz (2 aces), Bryce Tupaz (15 assists), Ben Boron (6 kills), George Hollenstein (3 kills), Ethan Punzalan (3 kills), Jackson Rowe (3 blocks), Carson Swigert (2 blocks) and Evan Page (12 digs).
At Glenbrook South: Lake Zurich (35-3) had to kick things into gear after losing the first set to host Glenbrook South 28-26. The Bears did just that, winning the next two sets 25-22 and 25-16 to increase their match winning streak to 11.
Wyatt Jones lead Lake Zurich with 10 kills, 5 blocks and 15 assists. Gabe Schwartz (12 kills, 2 blocks), Konrad Bochonko (8 kills, 3 blocks), Kuba Rytel (3 kills, 4 blocks), Ashton Stage (3 kills, 6 blocks), Dominic Genovese (2 aces), Nikola Stanojevic (12 digs), Yani Oblakov (5 digs, 15 assists) and Joshua Stephen (5 kills, 1 block) also came up big for the Bears.
At New Trier: Mundelein did not have quite enough and fell to the third-seeded Trevians 25-20, 20-25, 25-19. After losing the first set, the sixth-seeded Mustangs (29-5) broke away from a 14-14 tie in the second set to remain alive until faltering in the third set.
In the Schaumburg sectional, the semifinals begin Saturday at 1 p.m. Hersey, which is seeded ninth, will take on fifth seeded Maine South. That will be followed by second-seeded Lake Park against sixth-seeded Conant.
At Maine West: Hersey (22-16), which was second in the MSL East this year, stunned top-seeded Maine West in straight sets, 25-22, 25-20. Maine West (31-6), whose season came to an abrupt end, broke the school record for wins this season.
At Maine South: The host Hawks (27-11) won their sixth match in a row and were able to move on by outlasting Niles West, 20-25, 26-24, 28-26.
At Lake Park: The match hosted by Lake Park was moved up early to accommodate Lake Park’s graduation. But Maine East was not so cooperative once it began.
After losing the first set 25-8, Maine East (18-13), which was seeded 10th, came roaring back in the second set to stun the second-seeded Lancers 25-20. But Lake Park (26-11) shook off the defeat and blasted the Blue Demons 25-10 in the final set.
At Evanston: Conant (24-9) won its fourth consecutive regional title by ousting host Evanston, 25-22, 25-22. Bruce Grogan and Kaloyan Kotev each had 9 kills for the Cougars while Neal Mehrotra had 12 digs and Tanish Bolleddula 25 assists.