Girls Volleyball: Mother McAuley tops Marist
By Tony Baranek tbaranek@southtownstar.com September 11, 2012 8:50PM
Mother McAuley's Courtney Joyce (8) and Maggie Scanlon (9) celebrate a point against Marist. | Gary Middendorf~For Sun-Times Media
Article Extras
Updated: October 14, 2012 1:39PM
Marist’s student section can be pretty intimidating for a server, and the RedHawk Rowdies did their best to get into the head of Mother McAuley’s Kennedy Arundel during Tuesday’s annual September showdown.
It was not mission accomplished.
In fact, there was no intimidating any of the Mighty Macs during a surprisingly convincing 25-20, 25-16 victory before nearly 2,000 fans in the Marist gym.
“I just kept saying to myself that when they were cheering out there it was like they were cheering for me. I kept my head in the game,” Arundel, a sophomore, said after her service runs brought McAuley back from a deficit in Set 1 and allowed the Mighty Macs to pull away in Set 2.
Arundel finished with 10 service points and two kills, while Kelsey Clark (7 kills), Michelle Konecki (10 digs), Ryann DeJarld (5 kills) and Courtney Joyce (18 assists, 4 kills, 5 digs, 2 blocks) also stood tall for No. 2 McAuley (5-0)
No. 1 Marist (2-2) was led by Kelly Marcinek (8 kills), Elyse Panick (5 kills), Taylor Holder (14 assists), Carolyn Yerkes (14 digs) and Mallory Salis (4 kills, 3 blocks).
The Mighty Macs are on the fast track in the progress of the sophomores in the starting lineup who were members of the Michio 15s club team that won a national title.
But it was a senior (Konecki) that provided the best defense and a junior (Joyce) who was clutch when it mattered the most in Set 1.
Having rallied from an 11-6 deficit via a service run by Arundel, the Macs were able to break away from a 19-all tie thanks in large part to two misdirection tips by Joyce.
“I was thinking, keep my focus and do whatever we needed to do to win,” Joyce said. “Those were perfect passes (on the tips), so I owe the team a lot for that.”
Marist jumped in front 5-1 in Set 2 behind three power hits by Marcinek, but McAuley chipped its way back in and went in front 7-6 on a Maggie Scanlon spike. It was 14-11 Macs when a Clark kill on a quick set led to a four-point Arundel serving run.
On this night, Marist was out of answers.
“McAuley played really well. They did a great job,” RedHawks coach Natalie Holder said. “I’m not going to make excuses. I never have nor will I ever. They played smarter, played harder, and they played as the better team. It is what it is.”
