Girls Volleyball: A mighty victory for Marist over McAuley
By Tony Baranek tbaranek@southtownstar.com September 22, 2012 10:54PM
Marist celebrates their victory over Mother McAuley in the champtionship game of the Rich East volleyball invitational Saturday, September 22, 2012. | Brett Roseman~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: October 24, 2012 6:29AM
Beating Mother McAuley on any night is tough.
It’s a lot more possible, though, when you’re paying attention.
Marist senior middle Rachel Dalton figured that out in the time between a two-set loss to the No. 1 Mighty Macs on Sept. 11, and Saturday’s 18-25, 25-22, 25-22 victory in the championship match of the Rich East Invitational.
Dalton, was a force at the net for the No. 3 RedHawks (13-3) with nine blocks. She was especially big late in Set 3, providing a block and a kill during a 5-0 run late that helped erase a 19-15 deficit.
Last match (against McAuley) I noticed afterward that I really wasn’t even watching the setters,” Dalton said. “This time I really focused on going ball-setter, ball-hitter when I was up the net.”
She and main blocking partners Elyse Panick (4 blocks, 7 digs) and Molly Mayo were a major difference as the RedHawks improved to 13-3. Other standouts in the title match for Marist were Mallory Salis (18 kills, 9 digs), Kelly Marcinek (4 kills), Carolyn Yerkes (14 digs) and Taylor Holder (10 assists).
Ryann DeJarld (13 kills, 9 digs), Courtney Joyce (25 assists), Carla Cahill (17 digs) and Kelsey Clark (6 kills) paced McAuley (12-1).
Myriad unforced errors were costly for the RedHawks in Set 1. In Set 3, they fell behind early 9-2 before rallying at the net behind Dalton and behind the outside hitting of Salis.
“Quite honestly, we didn’t come into this tournament wanting to beat McAuley,” Salis said. “We came in here wanting to win the tournament. We worked a lot in the past two weeks on mental resiliency. When we were down (9-2), not once did we let up. I think that’s how we perform best, under pressure.”
No. 7 Sandburg (12-5) lost to McAuley in the semifinals 25-18, 25-16, and to Wheaton-St. Francis in the third-place match 25-21, 21-25, 25-22.
No. 6 Providence (16-5) rode seven kills from Annie Cummings and 16 digs from Allie Marthaler to a 25-23, 25-15 over No. 8 Lincoln-Way Central in the ‘B’ division title match.
Lincoln-Way Central (12-5) went 3-2 for the weekend, beating No. 10 Chicago Christian (15-7) in Saturday’s first match 19-25, 25-18, 25-17.
No. 4 Lockport (11-4) won both of its matches on Saturday, including a 25-19, 22-25, 25-17 victory over Lyons in the ‘C’ division title match. No. 9 Marian Catholic (17-5) won three of five matches and captured third in the ‘B’ division. No. 2 Lincoln-Way East (14-3) suffered its first losses of the season on Friday and dropped another decision Saturday morning, but rebounded to beat Lemont 25-20, 25-20 in the ‘C’ division third-place match. Lemont (15-9) went 1-4 for the weekend.
