Naperville Central wins state volleyball championship
NORMAL - Naperville Central traveled the toughest road in the Class 4A state tournament.
Right down to the very end.
Awaiting the Redhawks in the state championship match was Mother McAuley, the most powerful girls volleyball program in Illinois history. The Mighty Macs have often lived up to their nickname with their state record 22 downstate appearance and 13 titles.
In the end not even McAuley could stop Naperville Central from reaching its destination. The Redhawks fended off the Mighty Macs for a 25-23, 25-22 state title triumph late Saturday night in Redbird Arena.
"You know what?" asked Naperville Central coach Brie Isaacson, whose club won its final 23 matches. "We earned this. We played everybody we had to play. We played teams in the top 10 in the state, 100 in the country. We played five or six of them to get here and it makes it that much more worthwhile.
"There's no disputing that we earned this and that this is ours," Redhawks senior outside hitter Rebecca Heath said. "We knew we had to fight for it, and that made it all the more fun."
Junior outside hitter Emily McGee smashed a match-high 13 kills, Heath unloaded 11 and junior right-side hitter Megan Bray reeled off 7 for the winners.
"Their hitters just overpowered us," McAuley coach Jen DeJarld said. "There were times in the second game, we're putting up an unbelievable block and I don't know how they got it past us."
"There was so much adrenaline going," said McGee, who also played on Naperville Central's Class AA state championship team of 2005. "It was kind of like a Cloud Nine experience. ... It was extremely exciting. We knew we would have to swing hard since their defense is so good and their blocking got lots of touches."
The powerful teams traded punches early in Game 1 before McAuley (34-8) used 3 straight points on a power tip by setter Melissa Joyce sandwiched by a pair of Lexi Weiler kills to pull ahead 10-6, prompting Isaacson to call a timeout.
The Redhawks (38-4) tightened their defense and went on the attack. McGee spiked 3 kills before Heath unloaded 4 consecutive kills to lift her team to a 16-13 edge.
Naperville Central opened as much as a 21-16 spread after back-to-back kills by McGee, but McAuley came back. The Mighty Macs fended off a pair of game points to pull within 24-23 on Val Zulevic's block.
On the next ball, though, Megan McMahon fed Bray, and Bray smacked the ball through the block for game point for the Redhawks.
Naperville Central continued its momentum into Game 2, riding a 5-point run capped by Bray burying an overpass for a 9-3 lead. The Redhawks soon found themselves ahead 14-5 after 3 straight McAuley errors.
Yet 2 more kills by McGee gave Naperville Central a 23-17 cushion. McAuley countered with the next 4 points to pull within 23-21.
A McGee tip behind her head made it 24-21. The Mighty Macs staved off one game point with one of Jessica Galotta's team-high 8 kills from the middle before Bray slammed a kill from the left side for championship point.
"It feels amazing, especially because it's been our goal all season to get here and win the state championship," McMahon said. "To see that goal completed is just the greatest feeling in the world."