The season series is now tied at one.
On a day better suited for beach volleyball, neighborhood rivals Mother McAuley and Richards traveled an hour north on the Tri-State Tollway to determine the championship of the Maine West Pumpkin Volleyball Tournament.
When it was over the No. 4 Mighty Macs walked away with their first tournament championship of the season, beating No. 1 Richards 15-9, 10-15, 15-6.
At first it looked to be Richards` day. The Bulldogs took a quick 7-0 lead in Game 1 as McAuley failed to put any of its first three serves in play. That`s when coach Nancy Pedersen took a timeout to calm her team.
”Pretend you are playing someone else,” Pedersen said.
After that the Mighty Macs could do no wrong as they roared back to win the game and the match.
Defense was the key.
”We blocked well,” said Pedersen after watching her team neutralize the thunderous hitting and jump-serving of Richards` Sue Novak. ”When you get your best shot blocked and blocked again, it`s tough to come back. It dwells on you, and it affects your entire team.”
McAuley dominated at the net. The key blockers were 5-foot-10-inch junior Molly Maloney and setter Nikki Valentine. Maloney had 24 blocks, seven of which went for kills, and added 10 offensive hits for kills. The 5-6 Valentine had a near-perfect day setting, going 93 for 96 in setting efficiency with 29 sets for kills, and she also chipped in five blocks for kills.
McAuley`s record is 25-5; Richards` is 25-3.
TENNIS
For Homewood-Flossmoor girls tennis coach Jim Trudeau, Saturday`s sectional meet at H-F was just another day at the court. The verdict, as usual, was victory.
The Vikings have now won 10 of their last 11 sectionals, including five straight, and for the third year in a row H-F has placed both singles and doubles teams in the state finals, which start Thursday in Mt. Prospect.
Heading the H-F team are doubles champs Shannon Flanagan and Janet Greer, both juniors, and senior Iffy Okorafor, the singles champ. Flanagan and Greer beat the H-F team of Tina Suk and Ngozi Okorafor 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in the finals. Iffy Okorafor, Ngozi`s sister, beat another sister, Nnedi, 6-2, 6-4 for the singles crown.
”Been a good day,” said Trudeau. ”Things went as expected. I was fairly confident in our girls and confident things would go as they did. I expect Iffy to be seeded somewhere around fifth to eighth next week. I`m not sure where Flanagan and Greer will be placed, but I would guess someplace in the top 10.”
Flanagan and Greer were among the top 13 in doubles play at last year`s state meet; Okorafor finished ninth in singles.
In other sectional action, defending state champion New Trier won at Evanston, advancing both of its singles players and both doubles teams. Regina`s Sheila Considine won the singles title.
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Lyons, another state contender, also advanced the full complement of players in winning its own sectional. The Lions were led by unbeaten singles standout Laura Dvorak, who won the title match 6-2, 6-1 over Jenny Layden of Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Awaiting Dvorak this week at the state finals is defending state singles champ Mindy Weiner, a 6-0, 6-0 winner over Maine East teammate Patty Bank in the singles final at Maine South, and defending state runner-up Jennifer Nasser of Hersey. Nasser beat Kay Jean Solonickne of Buffalo Grove 6-2, 7-6 for the singles title at Wheeling.
CROSS COUNTRY
Boys powers Schaumburg, Stagg and York did nothing to diminish their reputations in Saturday conference meets.
Defending state champion Schaumburg won the always-strong Mid-Suburban League meet, totaling 43 points to Palatine`s 68 by placing three runners in the top five (Rick Miller, second; Scott Lilley, fourth; Ron Miller, fifth). Palatine`s Bob Watson was the individual winner.
Stagg dominated in the SICA North, scoring 17 points with seven runners in the top 10. Joe Simone, Jason Rush and Doug Nelson ran 1-2-3 for the Chargers. Simone`s winning time of 15:04 for three miles set a course record. York won the West Suburban Silver with 23 points. The Dukes` Brian Vercruysse led the way, winning the individual title, teammate Al Kabat was second and four other Dukes were in the top 10.
In girls competition, three of the state`s finest-Hersey, Downers Grove South and Downers Grove North-all won league meets.
Hersey won the Mid-Suburban title, finishing with 47 points to 68 for runner-up Palatine. Schaumburg`s Kim Stewart won the individual crown in 11:23; Palatine`s Tricia Huber was 18 seconds back.
Downers Grove South totaled 34 to win the West Suburban Gold crown. The Mustangs` Tina Stec ran two miles in 11:39 to win by 31 seconds.
Erika Chesney was the individual winner in the West Suburban Silver meet, leading Downers Grove North to the crown. The Trojans placed four girls in the top 10.
SOCCER
Both coaches said the same thing. The referee said little.
At issue was the Upstate Eight championship soccer match Saturday afternoon at Lake Park High School. St. Charles beat the host Lancers 1-0 in penalty kicks. In reality, there was more.
After 100 minutes of aggressive, scoreless play, penalty kicks began. With them came all the fuss.
Lake Park (11-8-1) converted its first two attempts. St. Charles (15-4-2) netted one. Then, Lancers midfielder Dominick Muzi sent a shot under Saints goalkeeper Theron Henderson, giving Lake Park a commanding 3-1 edge.
But referee George Dirksen signaled a re-kick. Something about too much crowd noise. Henderson stopped Muzi`s second attempt, St. Charles converted two of its next three and Lake Park missed a pair.
”The ref said the noise was disrupting,” said Lake Park coach Norm Hillner. ”The people were 70 yards away. This isn`t the 18th hole of the Masters.”
Said Saints coach Tim Dailey: ”Too bad a good game has to get marred by that nonsense. The officiating was horrible.”
In the third-place match, De Kalb beat Larkin 2-1 in four overtimes, and it took the same amount of time for West Aurora to beat East Aurora in the seventh-place game. Elgin won the fifth-place game 1-0 over Streamwood on a forfeit.