NORMAL — Senior outside hitter Peyton Brokemond is officially listed as 5-foot-8 on Mother McAuley’s roster.
But that’s when she’s standing.
Friday night at Redbird Arena, she soared. There was no measuring tape, but …
“I felt 6-foot-4,” Brokemond said.
Indeed, she soared like never before as the Mighty Macs won 27-29, 25-21, 25-16 in a classic Class 4A state semifinal match with Edwardsville at Illinois State.
Brokemond finished with a career-high 18 kills for McAuley (35-6). Ellie White had 23 kills, while Northwestern recruit Gigi Navarrete notched 14 digs and Caroline Macander added 40 assists and 10 digs.
Gabby Saye led Edwardsville (33-8) with 13 kills. Emma Garner added 10 kills, while Kaitlyn Conway made 19 digs.
McAuley will play Metea Valley (33-2) at approximately 8:55 p.m. Saturday for the state title.
Brokemond was very close to a perfect hitting match, making just two errors among 37 attempts.
On the way to the news conference, Mighty Macs coach Jen DeJarld asked Brokemond the question many in Redbird Arena were probably thinking.
“I asked her, ‘What did you eat?'” DeJarld said, smiling. “Ellie is our power hitter, Ellie is leading in the state, and she has been amazing. But Peyton is just so efficient day in and day out.
“She’s smart. And the greatest thing is she keeps her poise under pressure.”
It was never as evident as in Game 2.
The Mighty Macs got off to a slow start, spent much of Game 1 chasing and had two game points slip away.
They were seemingly unable to stop Saye, a 6-2 left-handed power hitter. The Tigers had smiles on their faces as Game 2 began.
White struck first for four early kills. Brokemond, however, picked up the hitting pace even more when she rotated to the back row.
Macander set the ball back to White on a couple of occasions but for the most part went to Brokemond when she had the opportunity.
“Peyton is the best type of hitter a setter can have,” Macander said. “You can always count on her to put the ball away — whether it’s her banging the ball line, across or just a super smart roll shot or tip to the middle.
“She looks at me before a serve and I know she wants that ball. She’s eager to put that ball away.”
In Game 3, Brokemond broke a 5-5 tie with a tip for kill and followed that up with a laser from the left side.
The Mighty Macs would never trail again — or stop smiling.
“I was just excited to be here,” Brokemond said. “I knew it’s my senior year. This is going to be my last weekend playing volleyball. I wanted to go out with a bang.
“I just needed to put my heart on the floor and give all the effort that I can.”
Brokemond will be concentrating on academics in college.
White, as usual, was dominant as well. The sophomore outside hitter made just six errors in 51 attempts, shaking off the opening frustration provided by Edwardsville’s defense.
“They came out with 100% effort,” White said. “Their energy was super high. My tipping wasn’t working. I just needed to keep swinging and look at the court to see what was open.”
Navarrete, Macander, Sam Falk and Olivia Klapp combined on defense to take some of the sting out of Edwardsville’s power swingers during the final two games.
“At first, our defense and everything was a little shaky,” Navarrete said. “We’d rather get our nerves out in the beginning than the end. That was good.
“I just kept talking to my coaches on the sideline, and they were telling to watch the tip coming and everything like that. Just staying on my toes and really reacting to those balls made me more motivated.”
Navarrete had the final assist on a ball White hit with authority.
“It felt amazing,” White said. “It was like a sigh of relief. We all contributed and did this together.”