Boys volleyball: Palatine to face Lake Zurich in regional final

Palatine's boys volleyball team advanced to the Waukegan regional final after a three-set victory over Warren in Tuesday's semifinals.

The Pirates prevailed 24-26, 25-22, 25-22.

Senior Zach Wheat led the attack with 10 kills and also had a team-best 3 blocks, and Jake Boldog provided 26 setting assists along with a 10-for-10 serving performance.

Other key contributors for Palatine included Andrew Padilla (9 digs, 13-for-14 serving, 1 ace), Johnny O'Shea (8 kills, 14 digs) and Camden Hill (8 kills).

In the first semifinal at Waukegan, Lake Zurich stopped Wheeling 25-17, 25-22. Top performers for the Wildcats (7-28) included Jon Janowski (4 kills), Matt Schiferl (7 digs), Kyle Bagarella (12 assists on 37-for-39 setting) and Michael Lechowicz (3 kills, 2 blocks).

The No. 7 seed Pirates face the No. 2 Bears at 6 p.m. Wednesday for the regional championship. The winner advances to Friday's sectional semifinals hosted by Barrington.

at Highland Park: Top-seeded Barrington rolled past Highland Park 25-12, 25-16 to earn a matchup with Vernon Hills in the regional title game.

Vernon Hills advanced by eliminating Carmel 25-21, 22-25, 25-22.

The MSL West champion Broncos take on the Cougars at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

at Niles North: No. 2 seed Hersey had no trouble moving on in the postseason as the Huskies produced a 25-11, 25-21 victory over Maine West in regional semifinal play.

Hersey will meet No. 7 seed Maine South, a 25-22, 25-21 winner against Niles North, in Wednesday's 6 p.m. regional final at Niles North.

Coach Nancy Lill's team improved to 26-9 behind strong performances from Matt Hopkins and Dan Swan (6 kills apiece), Vince Reisel (23 assists), Ryan Bayerle (3 blocks) and Justin Hong (11 digs).

at Prospect: Elk Grove saw its season come to an end with a 25-18, 25-22 loss to No. 4 seed Evanston.

Amond the leaders for Elk Grove were Kevin Braceros (3 aces), Anthony Prochenski (11 digs) and Ed Gonzalez (35-for-38 setting, 14 assists) and Connor Emmerich and Tom Sulima (2 blocks apiece).

The host Knights gave No. 5 seed Loyola quite a challenge before the Ramblers prevailed 25-20, 22-25, 25-13.

Evanston and Loyola meet to decide the regional title at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Prospect.

at Buffalo Grove: The sixth-seeded Bison will meet No. 3 seed Deerfield in Wednesday's regional final at 7 p.m. after both teams won their semifinals.

Buffalo Grove handled Zion-Benton 25-17, 25-18. Leading the way for the Mid-Suburban League champs were Zach Schnittker (23 assists, 4 kills, 3 aces), Blake Maley (14-14 serve receive), Chris Tsourmas (9 kills) and Ian VanWazer (5 kills).

Deerfield advanced by ousting Fremd 25-20, 25-16.

at Lake Park: It will be the host Lancers against South Elgin in Wednesday's regional final after those teams eliminated their Mid-Suburban League semifinal foes.

Lake Park stopped Schaumburg 25-16, 25-16, and South Elgin ousted Conant 25-12, 28-26.

at Prosser: Leyden advanced to a regional final against Fenwick by handling Holy Trinity 25-10, 25-22 in semifinal play. Among the leader for the Eagles were Roy Vizcarra (5 kills), Nick Diaz (4 kills), Carlos Diaz (3 kills), Kamil Michorczyk (3 aces) and Mike Motyka (2 aces).

Fenwick rolled past Steinmetz 25-11, 25-12 in the other semifinal.