Girls volleyball: St. Viator, Libertyville, Carmel, Fremd, Mundelein, Stevenson, Barrington, Palatine among regional championships
St. Viator girls volleyball coach Charlie Curtin went into Thursday's championship match of his No. 1-seeded Lions' own Class 3A regional in Arlington Heights as the school's all-time leader in wins with 354.
He also had won the program's most regional titles with seven.
You can add one more to each of those categories after Thursday's 25-13, 25-10 victory over No. 8 Northside Prep (16-17) which gave the Lions their 10th regional crown in program history. Curtin's club (30-7) was led by Erin Lynch (9 kills, 1 block, 1 ace), Avery Albritton (4 kills, 1 block), Mary Francl (4 kills, 2 blocks), Olivia Walberg (3 kills, 1 block), Grace Geary (1 kill, 2 blocks), Olive Meyers (13 assists, 2 aces), Rose Berlen (6 assists, 1 ace), Abigail Sheldon (3 aces) and Molly Huber (1 kill, 1 block).
It was St. Viator's fourth regional crown in five years under Curtin, who led the Lions to a fourth-place finish in the 2017 Class 3A state tourney.
Libertyville regional: The top-seeded and host Wildcats (30-7) earned a hard-fought 29-27, 25-20 win over No. 4 Jacobs (29-8) to win their second straight Class 4A regional title under coach Greg Loika and 29th in program history (plus 7 district titles, the first in 1974).
Libertyville trailed 10-3 in the first set but fought back to lead 24-22. Jacobs then pushed the score to extra points before Charlie Fleegle finished the set with an ace.
The Wildcats led throughout the second set but a late push by the Eagles tied the score at 19. The hosts finished the match with 5 straight points, securing the title when Brynn Colton served an ace.
Leaders for the Wildcats were Mairead Flemming (13 assists, 9 digs), Ellen Knight (6 kills, 6 digs, 2 blocks), Avery Maddux (3 aces, 2 kills, 3 blocks), Claire Evans (9 kills, 6 digs), Fleegle (14 digs, 3 aces, 8 assists), Emmi Zovistoski (6 kills, 4 digs), Colton (5 assists, 7 digs, 2 aces), Vivian Lang (1 kills, 1 block), Sydney Meyer (1 kill, 2 digs) and Ella Obourn (8 digs, 2 aces).
Vernon Hills regional: No. 1 seeded Carmel (27-10) won its 16th regional and second Class 3A crown in three years under coach David Pazely with a 25-18, 13-25, 25-15 victory over No. 5 Wauconda (11-21).
Leading the Corsairs were sophomore setter Charlotte Shepherd (27 assists), sophomore OH Scarlett Olszowka (9 kills, 1 ace, 3 digs), sophomore OH Brailyn Albanese (8 kills, 4 digs), freshman MB Liv Johnson (5 kills, 4 aces) and sophomore libero Beca Arreola (15 digs, 1 ace).
"It was a rollercoaster ride of emotions and performance," Pazely said. "Wauconda battled all night long, no matter the score, no matter losing the first set, they came to fight. It is testament to their coach and their mentality.
"Our performance was inconsistent, especially in the second set, but the girls were able to shake off a bad performance and come back with a strong third set. We regained momentum with a couple of kills from Brailyn Albanese, and then Liv Johnson got going offensively. Liv then stepped to the service line and went on an incredible service run which included 4 aces. We opened up a 9-point lead and rode out that momentum to end the match."
Fremd regional: Fremd (27-7) won its own Class 4A regional with a 25-20, 25-18 victory over No. 7 Lake Zurich (19-15).
Coach Pete Gavin's Vikings were led by senior middle blocker Emily Karmazin (19 kills, 1 block), sophomore Harper Neill (5 kills, 9 digs, 4 aces) and senior Akshara Jay (5 kills). Senior libero Ella Castelloini had 13 digs while freshman Reese Newton was 6-of-7 on serve receive.
It was Fremd’s 12th regional crown in program history and second straight under Gavin.
McHenry regional: No. 2.-seeded Mundelein (20-17) earned its ninth regional crown (in addition to two district titles) with a 25-21, 25-19 triumph in the Class 4A title match over No. 3 Warren (14-22).
Paige Prochnow (6 kills, 7 digs), Sophia Mitry (5 kills on 6 attempts), Donnelley Wyss (2 kills, 2 aces) and Elaine Campo (2 kills) led the attack for Mundelein. Caitlyn Pyke had 7 digs for the winners, who fell behind 5-0 to start the match.
"We started off slow but that's a testament to Warren as they battled hard the entire night," said Mustangs coach Jeff Blezien. "We fought back one point at a time with the support of our bench who brought energy the entire night for our second consecutive regional."
Schaumburg regional: No. 5 Stevenson (24-12) won its third straight Class 4A regional crown under coach Tim Crow and 31st overall for the program (also 1 district) with a 25-17, 25-14 decision over No. 4 Hersey (22-15).
Leading the Patriots were Abby Inman ( 9 kills, 2 aces, 1 block, 11 digs), Ryler Bondad (10 assists, 2 aces, 5 digs), Jane Tan ( 2 aces, 13 assists, 4 digs), Audri Linnane ( 4 kills, 1 block, 3 digs), Maya Patryarcha (4 kills, 2 blocks, 3 digs), Cate Taborek (4 kills,1 block) Nomin Baterdene (9 kills, 1 ace, 9 digs), Lexi Randle EL (10 digs, 3 assists), Meha Manchikalapati (2 kills) and Zuzanna Wal (2 digs).
"Unfortunately, we just couldn't finish," said Huskies coach Laura Gerber. "Stevenson played really well. They were in system the entire time.
"We definitely didn't play our best and are disappointed in the loss but we had an amazing season. We had a great group of girls."
Buffalo Grove regional: Mid-Suburban League champion and No. 2 seed Barrington (25-12) posted a 25-19, 25-21 triumph over No. 8 Buffalo Grove (14-18) for its fourth straight Class 4A regional crown under coach Michelle Mayer and 19th regional crown in program history.
The Fillies were led by Kalyn Brookbank (18 kills, 3 digs, 1 ace), Jaelyn Connole ( 3 kills, 4 digs), Alessandra Mirkovich ( 2 blocks), Eve Adler ( 21 assists, 1 ace), Ella Krull (6 digs, 1 ace), Ingrid Wright (1 block), Toni Rojas (3 digs), Kinley Shinhoster ( 3 digs, 1 ace), Lexi Szlezak (4 kills, 1 dig), Maddie Regas (1 dig) and Madison Boyum (1 block).
"We played one of our best all-around matches of the season," Mayer said. "The team showed outstanding effort on both sides of the ball. Our defense was strong, and our first contact set the tone throughout the match. The girls came out focused, executed the game plan, and played with great intensity and high volleyball IQ."
Senior OH Tetiana Kutsyk (5 kills, 2 aces, 2 blocks, 5 digs), sophomore setter Alex Tohter (12 assists, 2 digs), senior MB Cameron Damm (3 blocks, 1 kill, 1 dig) and junior libero Ava Lo Verde (10 digs) helped lead the Bison.
Elk Grove regional: No. 3 Palatine (28-7) won its first regional since 2016 with a 25-27, 25-14, 26-24 triumph over No. 6 South Elgin (24-12) in the Class 4A regional.
"South Elgin is an unbelievable team," said Pirates coach Dan Gavin, whose team won the 13th regional in program history (in addition to a district title in 1981).
"I was really proud of our girls for sticking together," Gavin added. "Our middles did a great job offensively when we got them the ball but we never really got into a great offensive rhythm. We won that match with defense."
Gavin said there were some unbelievable individual efforts.
"Kiya (Chesak) and Baeley (Berry) teaming up blocking against their OH was the catalyst but it was all within the system," Gavin added. "They blocked the balls they were supposed to block and trusted Brooklyn (Chesak), Zoe (Johnson), Sammy (Kendrick) and Syd (Branch) to dig balls behind them which they did. The girls played to win at the end and we created just enough opportunity and found just enough offense to finish the match."
At Grayslake North: No. 2 Grayslake Central (24-11) won the Class 3A regional over No. 3-seeded Lakes (25-10) in three sets for the Rams' sixth regional crown in program history (also won a district in 1976).
The dramatic 25-27, 26-24, 25-14 victory gave coach Arian Colton's Rams their first regional title since 2012.
Lakes was led by Addison Sundquist (17 kills), Brynn Skinner (5 kills, 21 digs) and Sammi Madse (28 assists).
"I am really proud of our team," said Lakes coach Sarah Yeager. "We had an incredible season, finishing 25-10 and showing tremendous growth, teamwork, and determination every step of the way. Hats off to Grayslake Central. They played a great match."
Hiawatha (Kirkland) regional: Top-seeded Schaumburg Christian (24-4) posted a 25-12, 25-12 victory over No. 2 Trinity Oaks Christian Academy (18-13) in the Class 1A regional final.
Evanston regional: No. 3 seeded DePaul Academy Prep (32-5) won its third straight Class 4A regional with a 25-18 25-16 victory over No. 6 Maine South (20-13).