St. Ignatius succumbed to nervousness in Game 1 of its sectional final match against host Lyons Township on Thursday. Once the jitters were out of the way, the Wolfpack recorded their biggest victory of the year.
After a 10-point Game 1 loss, St. Ignatius (24-15) rebounded to upset seventh-ranked Lyons 5-15, 15-7, 15-13. The Wolfpack advanced to the Morton supersectional, where they will face Mother McAuley on Saturday.
The Wolfpack, who had 14 errors in Game 1, took a 6-0 lead in Game 2. After Lyons (32-7) closed to within three points, St. Ignatius scored six straight to go up 12-3. In Game 3, St. Ignatius led 7-1 before Lyons tied the game at 7-7. With Megan Hickey serving, St. Ignatius took a 12-7 lead before another Lyons comeback cut it to 14-12. Lyons fought off two match points, but Erin Blake (14 kills) sealed the triumph with a kill.
“I told them after the first game we made every mistake you could make; now let’s play like we know we can,” St. Ignatius coach Christine Ford said. “We started serving tougher. We took them out of their attack.”
Annie Cella had 21 kills and Colleen Morrissey 50 assists for St. Ignatius.
Mother McAuley: No. 5 Mother McAuley (28-9) swept Marian Catholic 15-10, 15-8 with Nicole Kacor’s 10 kills and four aces and Heather Thomas’ five kills. Katie Brasher had 17 assists to anchor the offense. Marian Catholic (29-10) jumped to a 10-5 lead in Game 1 behind eight service points by Moira Coughlin. She served four aces during the stretch. McAuley rallied, scoring 10 unanswered points, to put the game away.
Addison Trail: Wheaton North (27-12) eliminated No. 8 Larkin 15-13, 10-15, 15-4 behind Elisabeth Kwak-Hefferan’s 20 kills and 10 by Emily Nihill to win its first sectional title. Larkin finished 35-2-1. The Falcons will play Hersey Saturday in the Schaumburg supersectional.
Hersey: The host Huskies (19-18) continued their Cinderella run, prevailing over Regina 16-14, 11-15, 15-11. Bethany Wotal’s 11 kills and Amy Gresens’ 22 assists led the way. Regina (26-5-1) was paced by Shante Haymore’s 20 kills.
Downers Grove North: Top-ranked Downers Grove South (34-5), led by Chantel Reedus’ 11 kills, cruised past York 15-4, 15-9. Erin Baker paced York (26-13) with five kills. No. 2 Lockport is up next for Downers South in the Naperville North supersectional.
Waukegan: April Peterson’s 11 kills, Kim Wooster’s 16 assists and Kathy Huntington’s five aces paced No. 10 Warren (36-2) in its 16-14, 15-4 victory over McHenry (29-9) for the Blue Devils’ first sectional title. Warren advances to Saturday’s Highland Park supersectional against Palatine.
Palatine: Behind Vesna Grbavac’s 11 kills and Kate Gates’ 25 assists, No. 9 Palatine (35-4) ousted Lake Forest 15-13, 16-14. Lake Forest (29-6) led 10-4 in Game 1, but Palatine rallied with three kills by Grbavac. The Pirates were up 9-0 in Game 2, but Lake Forest fought back for a 14-13 lead. Palatine finished the match with three straight points.
Plainfield: Jordann Tomasek and Jessica Cortesi had five kills each and Maggie Schultz added 15 assists as Waubonsie Valley advanced to the Rockford East supersectional with a 15-6, 15-10 victory over West Aurora. Rachael Sanford had four kills and two blocks for the Warriors.
Class A
Madonna: Fourth-ranked St. Francis (35-4) upended Chicago Latin 15-3, 15-3 behind Erin Byrd’s eight kills and Katie Virtue’s 11 assists and five kills. Gina Reynolds served nine aces and Erica Greer added five kills for the victors. Latin finished 25-5.
Plano: Chicago Christian earned a trip to the Manteno supersectional with a 15-10, 15-12 victory over Herscher. Tara Stuursma and Jenny Sales had seven kills and Lori DeRuiter had 12 aces for the Knights (23-9).