A geographic accident robbed the Class AA state volleyball tournament of a great match.
Defending state champion Mother McAuley and Stagg both displayed state tournament form Tuesday in the first round of the Shepard sectional, but only the Mighty Macs will carry on.
Mother McAuley, 34-4 and ranked No. 2 by the Tribune, rallied 8-15, 16-14, 15-9 to advance to Thursday’s sectional final. McAuley (34-4) will face Queen of Peace, which defeated Maria 15-9, 15-6, in Thursday’s 7 p.m. sectional final.
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Shepard’s gym had a standing-room crowd of about 2,500 for the rematch of the two intense rivals, and no one left without feeling the strain of a state tournament game. While the game was, at times ragged, there was no sign of letup in either team.
“Stagg is a great team and deserves to go Downstate,” said McAuley coach Nancy Pedersen. “I wish they could go, but not at our expense.”
The two teams had met in the finals of the Rich East Invitational with the same result. No. 4 Stagg (32-5) won the first game handily, then could not finish off the Mighty Macs with the game in their own hands. Tuesday, after winning the first, Stagg got up 14-11 but couldn’t finish.
The Chargers led 11-7 in the second game but then served 10 consecutive times before they could score another point. At match point, McAuley junior middle blocker Carolyn O’Brien came up with a key block for a sideout. With sophomore Ryann Connors serving, McAuley came up with five straight points for the victory. Game point came on a Jen Bell dig of an Erin Borske spike that floated back over the net.
“The last time we played them we came back in the second game,” said Connors, who had six kills. “We just knew that we could do it.”
Stagg controlled the first game from the beginning. Borske, who would have a match-high 18 kills, pushed the Chargers to a 9-2 lead and the closest McAuley could get was 11-7.
In the deciding game, Stagg jumped ahead 6-0 but couldn’t maintain it’s momentum. Jeanine Szczesniak put McAuley ahead 10-9 with four service points, including two of her match-high five aces, and had a kill in a four-point run. A Bell ace, a Connors kill and a Bell kill just about put the game away at 13-9. A Connors ace and a Szczesniak kill ended Stagg’s season.
Bell, a regular on the 1992 state championship team, led McAuley with 14 kills. Connors and Szczesniak each had six and setter Kelly Maloney had 22 assists. Stagg’s Chris Jagodzinski had 11 kills.
Queen of Peace lost to McAuley during the regular season but didn’t get a chance to meet the Mighty Macs in the GCAC tournament when they were upset by St. Ignatius in the semifinals. Maria upset St. Ignatius in the regionals.
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