First, she was shocked. Then, she was modest.
The eyes of senior setter Peyton Heatherly grew wide when told that, barring the emergence of a prehistoric stat, she’ll be leaving Mother McAuley as the program’s all-time assists leader.
“That’s … kind of crazy,” said Heatherly, a Coastal Carolina recruit. “I didn’t even know that. Well, I have to give a lot of credit to my hitters because I wouldn’t be able to get assists without them.
“And then my passers, they set me up with a lot of good balls I can get to my hitters. Yeah, I give a lot of credit to the people around me. I wouldn’t be able to do any of that without them.”
Heatherly deserved a ton of credit for her leadership during McAuley’s stunning come-from-behind 25-23, 25-8 nonconference victory Wednesday night over visiting Lyons in Chicago.
UConn commit Keira McQuillan led the way with 10 kills and 11 digs for the Mighty Macs (31-4). Heatherly contributed 16 assists and five digs, while Youngstown State commit Ava Calle chalked up 10 digs and Natalie DeMatteo added five.
Xavier recruit Taylor Carroll finished with five kills for Lyons (28-5).
So far this season, Heatherly is McAuley’s setting leader, of course, with 578 assists. But she’s also second on the team with 23 aces and among the defensive leaders with 177 digs.
For her career, Heatherly has 2,752 assists, with plenty of room to exceed 2,800. The program records are incomplete, but McAuley coach Jen DeJarld
More Top Picks Best Drafting Tables For Artists
is confident she’ll make history.Heatherly showed her leadership in keeping McAuley on an even keel during the first game against Lyons. The Lions came out swinging and built leads of 9-2, 17-9 and 21-14.
Then, the switch flipped. Teammate Josephine Perry was stone solid at the service line, while Heatherly ran the offense as the Mighty Macs erupted for an 8-0 run.
It was like a countdown.
“I was telling everyone, ‘OK, now we get five in a row,'” Heatherly said. “Then we would get a point and I was like, ‘Now we get four in a row.’ I was taking it point by point.
“I think we were all kind of stressed out in the moment. We just had to take it slower, knowing that we’ve done this before. I think it worked well.”
Heatherly set McQuillan for a kill that broke a 23-23 tie and set Katelyn Beirne for the winning kill. The Mighty Macs rolled in the second game.
During her McAuley career, Heatherly has had a lot of leaders to lean on. As a freshman, she bonded with Michigan-bound power hitter Ellie White. That, for starters, impressed DeJarld.
“I think it was quite intimidating but she was up for the challenge,” DeJarld said. “During her freshman, sophomore and even junior seasons, she looked up to someone older.
“Whether it be Ellie White or Gigi Navarrete, Sydney Buchanan and last year Lucy Maloney, she leaned on them for support.”
Heatherly still has someone to lean on as DeMatteo, a senior defensive specialist, keeps her in check.
“I would say so,” DeMatteo said, laughing. “I think me and Peyton have a good relationship off the court, too. I think I know how she works and she knows how I work. I know when she’s tense and she knows when I’m tense. We know how to balance each other out.”
And when to step up and stand out. At that, Heatherly has come up aces in her senior season.
“I think I had the mentality coming in that I had to bet on myself,” Heatherly said. “I’ve had all of those people in front of me, yeah. But now I’ve grown my confidence.
“I know I’ve done this a bunch of times. I know that I can lead my team.”
Tony Baranek is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.