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St. Francis stopped by Mother McAuley

Peg Kopec warned her St. Francis girls after beating Marian Central recently that they’d see an even better defense Thursday.

Mother McAuley didn’t disappoint.

The Mighty Macs controlled their match pitting two schools with a combined 21 state championships and beat the fourth-ranked Spartans 25-19, 25-20 at Spyglass Center.

“They are a very good defensive team,” St. Francis senior Carly Warner said. “Even when we tried to tip it, they were ready and on their feet. It was hard to put away balls. They were all over the court.”

St. Francis’ last lead of the night came at 4-3 in the first set, on a tip kill by Michelle McLaughlin. Kills by Lizzy Scanlon and Sydney McPhillips pushed the Mighty Macs ahead, and in the second set they jumped out to big early leads of 5-1 and 9-4.

The win against a parochial school rival carried a little extra weight for Mother McAuley coach Jennifer DeJarld, whose team had lost to Joliet Catholic in three sets in August and at Marist on Tuesday.

“I told the girls before that we had to have this win tonight,” DeJarld said. “Sometimes you need a big win like this to get over the hump.”

Defense has always been a hallmark of Mother McAuley teams, and this one is no different. The Mighty Macs start just one 6-footer, but it doesn’t seem to bother them a bit.

“We focus a lot of efforts on defense because that is our strength,” DeJarld said. “Our blocking is the key to slowing down balls for our back row, and I’m seeing my girls run through more balls where earlier in the season we would just kind of flop to the floor too much.”

St. Francis (13-2) at times looked disjointed on its side of the net.

During one rally middle hitter Daiva Wise got a touch on a first pass where a Spartans setter should have to feed one of their hitters. Mother McAuley had a hand in that, keeping long rallies alive with its defense.

“They are very strong defensively,” Kopec said, “but we’re making too many unforced errors. They would force you into errors, and that’s going to happen. But you can’t have unforced errors.”

Scanlon had 7 kills and 7 digs and Lauren Grady 6 kills and 4 blocks for Mother McAuley (4-2).

Warner had 7 kills and 8 assists, Wise 4 kills and Haley Gable 4 kills for St. Francis. Thursday capped off a grueling week for St. Francis, which took second to Edwardsville at a tournament in downstate Effingham Saturday, beat Chicago Christian Monday and survived a tough three-setter at Rosary Tuesday.

Kopec liked her team’s fight, coming back from down 19-12 in the first set and 21-14 in the second.

“The girls showed a lot of perseverance,” Kopec said. “We were down and we climbed back, not enough to win, but we could have easily given up. Now they just have to not give up with a little more execution.”

PAUL MICHNA/Pmichna@dailyherald.comCarly Warner of St. Francis goes up for a shot while Ryann Arundel of Mother McAuley tries to block. this took place during the Mother McAuley at St. Francis girls volleyball game Thursday.
  Taylor Reckards of St. Frances during the Mother McAuley at St. Francis girls volleyball game Thursday. She was celebrating a score. PAUL MICHNA/Pmichna@dailyherald.com