Marist senior Kamryn Chaney picked quite a night to be in a zone of her own.
Time after time, the Princeton recruit slammed the ball straight down against Mother McAuley. She blocked with ferocity.
She even did a bit of strutting.
“I was feeling really good,” Chaney said with a smile. “I was very confident in my team. We have been working hard, and I was just really excited.”
The 6-foot outside hitter and the host RedHawks walked with authority Thursday after defeating McAuley 25-22, 25-19 in front of a capacity crowd.
Chaney led the way with 12 kills, eight digs and five blocks for Marist (14-4). Elise Ward added 10 kills and seven digs, Bella Bullington had six kills and four blocks, Elayna Davidson made 16 digs and Maddie Berry tallied 19 assists.
Michigan commit Ellie White contributed eight kills and three digs for McAuley (17-1). Maeve Moonan added four kills and three blocks, while Tess Hayes had 10 assists and Gigi Navarrete delivered 15 digs.
Chaney has always been known as a power player who can change a match. But she has embraced the senior leadership role with aplomb.
Going into the match against McAuley, she was a runaway team leader with 182 kills. She also was tops with 23 blocks and 20 aces.
Together, Chaney and Ward were a dynamic hitting duo in taking down the previously unbeaten Mighty Macs. But Chaney didn’t stop at hitting.
“She just wanted it all,” Berry said. “We wanted to beat them very badly. She just had the aggressive mindset to go up and swing every time.
“I trust her with the ball. If I put it up, I know she’ll do something with it.”
The first game was tied at 19-19 when Chaney went back-to-back with a kill and a block to give the RedHawks the lead for good.
The second game was tied at 12-12 when Chaney went back-to-back with kills to once again put Marist ahead to stay.
That’s leadership.
“This was very important,” Chaney said. “This is a start to our steps of successes. This was a milestone for us, and we’re going to keep going forward.
“I’m a captain this year. I’m trying to lead more and put in what I’ve learned so far into my teammates.”
As far as Marist coach Jordan Vidovic is concerned, she’s well on her way to mission accomplished.
“This season, she has kind of let it all out,” Vidovic said. “She knows she has to be the leader. She knows she has to take a ton of responsibility, and there is just no holding back.
“Her attention to detail and her drive to want to get better every single day has been amazing.”
For McAuley, it was a stunning loss after a great early season run that included a tournament title in Kentucky and a stroll into the upper echelon of the national rankings.
“Marist played very clean and we did not,” Mighty Macs coach Jen DeJarld said. “I think playing in front of 2,000 people in your hometown, being undefeated and ranked fourth in the country, they felt the pressure to live up to a certain standard. They just weren’t themselves.
“We didn’t play to our offensive self at all. We were always playing on the defense. We didn’t take initiative and Marist did. They did a great job blocking us, slowing down our big hitters, and they did a good job mixing the ball around to their hitters.
“But this is a great opportunity for us to learn. It’s always good to play this match. We’ll grow from it and be stronger for it.”