If it had been baseball, this game would have been ended by the 10-run rule.

That’s how decisively Warren handled 31-game winner Hersey in set one of the Warren regional on Wednesday night.

It was an old-fashioned whipping to the tune of 25-14.

Warren (23-15) held a 10-7 lead in set two as well.

And then, as if the lights went on, the Hersey blocking game showed up. And block and block and block the Huskies did.

And with it, the Warren momentum from set one disappeared.

Hersey will represent the Warren regional in the Palatine sectional as the Mid-Suburban East champs rallied to win 14-25, 25-21, 25-19.

Hersey middle blocker Joe Nugent, he of 8 kills and 8 blocks, tried to explain what happened.

“Man, we better not come out flat in the second set,’’ Nugent said. “Warren’s serving was great. We haven’t ever lost by that much before.”

Hersey coach Nancy Lill, too was impressed by Warren’s service effort.

“That was the best serving we’ve seen all year,’’ Lill said. “Yesterday, Warren missed a lot of serves. But today, that serving took us out early.”

Warren was the No. 9 seed in the Palatine sectional while Hersey was seeded third.

The Warren lead in set one hit 15-8 with Gavin Glickley at the serving line. Glickley was again at the serving line when the first set concluded. Hector Hiraz and Brett Bauer had the big kills, and the rout was over.

“We were the ninth seed so we felt we had nothing to lose,’’ said Warren coach Yun Chen.

On a Kyle Wells block, the Warren lead was 12-9 in set two. And that’s where the game changed.

“Our blocking was phenomenal,’’ Lill said. “It was unbelievable. It was a game-changer. Nugent was touching everything.”

It started with Matt Hopkins serving. Hopkins is another blocking weapon and his return to lineup recently has helped the Huskies surge.

The 6-foot-6 Nugent started the Hersey momentum swing with a block kill. Andrew Leno joined in on the fun as well.

“Once they started blocking, it came in bunches,’’ Chen noted.

Hopkins (6 kills, 4 blocks) had a key block but the Hersey lead was just 19-17 because Mihajlo Gomez (8 kills, 12 digs) answered back for Warren.

Again, Hopkins and Nugent had some key kills late and Jake Mailloux closed the second set out with a kill.

“Our passing improved a lot in the second set,’’ Nugent said. “Warren played a really good game, but this was our 31st win so we’ve had a pretty good year.”

“Warren was better than their seed,’’ Lill said. “But once we got into our offense, it was helpful.”

The Hersey comeback began with senior setter Vince Reisel at the line. This time, Camran Saeed supplied a kill. Hersey’s lead was still slim at 15-13, and then it was tied at 17-17 before Mike Seneczko’s serving ace sent the Huskies to the sectional.

Reisel notched 22 assists for Hersey. Libero Justin Hong had 20 digs, while Mailloux and Saeed both had 5 kills for the Huskies.

Stevenson d. Palatine: The Stevenson boys volleyball team is tough to beat when senior outside hitter Grant Maleski is getting the job done on attack.

When he extends that hitting prowess to the service line, the Patriots are just about unstoppable.

On Wednesday night Maleski, who stands 6-feet-9, excelled in both areas.

He had 6 aces in the second game to go along with a match-high 15 kills as Stevenson defeated Palatine 25-21, 25-19 to win the Fremd regional championship.

It’s the first regional title for the Patriots since 2012 and also the first for Maleski, who has been on varsity since his freshman year.

Fifth-seeded Stevenson (25-12) moves on to face the top seed, Libertyville, at 5:30 p.m. Friday in a Palatine sectional semifinal.

“We were never able to get out of regionals before today,” said Maleski. “It’s kind of bittersweet that I wasn’t able to do it until my last year, but I’m so proud to be able to do it with this group of guys.”

Palatine pressed the issue early and had a lead halfway through the first game before Stevenson found its mojo.

“We felt confident coming in to execute our game plan,” said Pirates coach Frank Stark, “but Stevenson was awesome. They’ve got a couple nice players, obviously, and we didn’t take them out of their system all night. We made it easy for them.

“I think this is the best we’ve seen (Stevenson) play all year.”

Palatine held a 2-point lead in the first game before Stevenson turned the game around at, of all places, the service line.

Two consecutive aces from senior Austin Zhou, following another by Will Sorensen, propelled Stevenson to the first-game win.

Zhou’s aces were just in and changed the tide of the game.

“I think that gave us some confidence and some momentum,” said Zhou. “We were confident coming in — we watched Palatine beat Lake Zurich last night but we felt that we could compete with both teams.”

Palatine started strong in the second game, taking an early lead behind superior block kills by Johnny O’Shea and Camden Hill.

But the Pirates were quickly overwhelmed as 3 straight aces by Maleski gave Stevenson a 9-4 lead.

“When he (Maleski) doesn’t miss on his first couple of serves, he just gets on a roll,” said Zhou. “We bank on that.”

Three more aces from Maleski helped the Patriots open a 22-11 second-game lead, but Palatine didn’t give in.

The Pirates scored 8 of the next 10 points before Stevenson could get a side out.

A final kill from Maleski closed out the win.

Barrington d. Deerfield: Mid-Suburban League boys volleyball champion Barrington is moving on to the sectional semifinals.

The Broncos advanced in the postseason by topping Deerfield 25-23, 25-13 on Wednesday for a regional championship at Deerfield.

Barrington’s next match is at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Palatine in the second of two sectional semifinals. The opponent will be Hersey, making it a reprisal of the recent MSL championship game (which Barrington won).

Libertyville and Stevenson will compete in first semifinal at 5:30 p.m. Friday at Palatine.

Libertyville d. Buffalo Grove: Drew Fortini and Brendan Cook pounded 8 and 7 kills, respectively, and Libertyville’s boys volleyball team captured its own regional championship by beating eighth-seeded Buffalo Grove 25-21, 25-11 Wednesday night.

Ryan Hirschel dished out 43 assists and also recorded 3 aces, 2 blocks and 6 digs, as the top-seeded Wildcats (35-2) advanced to Friday’s 5:30 p.m. sectional semifinal at Palatine against No. 5 Stevenson (25-12).

Top contributors for Mid-Suburban East runner-up Buffalo Grove included Ian Van Wazer and Brian Franz (5 kills apiece), Chris Tsourmas (4 kills) and Danny Zickert (3 kills).

“Libertyville is a great team,” said Buffalo Grove coach Tim Kosiek. “They showed their best in that second game, and we wish them the best as they continue to battle in the postseason.”

Leyden d. Fenwick: The Eagles advanced to the sectional round by topping regional host Fenwick 27-25, 25-21, 25-19.

Coming up big for coach Shelly Mueller’s team were Tom Radziszewski (6 blocks, 7 kills), Devinn Wood (7 blocks), Jason Kemp (7 kills) and Mike Motyka (25 assists).

Leyden next plays Oak Park-River Forest at 5:30 p.m. Friday in River Grove-Guerin sectional semifinal. The 6:30 p.m. semifinal at Guerin features York and St. Patrick.