Blazers lose in championship

Elk Grove scored a big victory over Mid-Suburban League rival Fremd in the semifinals of Saturday's Rolling Meadows Mustang boys volleyball invitational as the Grens played their way into the championship game.

But the Grenadiers weren't satisfied just reaching the title match.

Elk Grove stunned two-time defending champion Addison Trail 22-25, 25-18, 25-22 to win the invitational championship and stay undefeated at 7-0.

Rolling Meadows finished third for the third straight season, the Vikings were fourth and Bartlett finished fifth in the 12-team event.

"This is phenomenal," said Elk Grove senior Nick Mortensen, who had several key blocks in Game 3 as the Grens held off a late rally by Addison Trail.

"This is the best feeling I've ever had on this team. It's exhilarating -- we couldn't wait to play today."

The Blazers had won the Mustang title three of the last four seasons.

"I'm really proud of the way they played," said Elk Grove coach Dan Windholz. "We've got nine seniors, and these guys are friends on and off the court.

"I don't think they even know how good they can possibly be, but we'll find out soon enough when we start our MSL conference schedule."

The Grens led Game 3 by a 19-10 margin at one point. But led by setter Chris Vazquez, the Blazers stormed back to close within 20-19.

But Grens senior hitter Bryan Skwirut drilled 5 consecutive kills to close out the match.

Skwirut finished the championship game 32 of 38 with 19 kills.

"This (the tourney title) was one of our goals at the beginning of the season," the Grens' Robin Philip said. "We had a lot of confidence after beating Fremd. We kind of lost our confidence after dropping Game 1 (to Addison Trail), but our captains (Mortensen, Skwirut, and John Condon) brought us back."

Blazers junior libero Axel Salvo had 13 digs against Elk Grove, while Brad Connors hammered 12 kills.

"We're still young," said Blazers coach Tom Hubner. "We've got a lot of young guys, and as a matter of fact I completely changed our lineup going into this tournament."

The Blazers finished 3-1 in the tourney, as did Bartlett with wins over St. Viator, Waukegan and Maine West in the fifth-place match.