St. Francis beats Mother McAuley to remain undefeated

Call St. Francis fortunate to win Game 1 Thursday night.

Or just call it how Mother McAuley coach Jennifer DeJarld did - the Spartans are pretty darn good.

"These hitters," DeJarld said, "they look like Division I level hitters out there. They're unbelievable."

After a close call in the first game, the Spartans got it going in Game 2 for a 26-24, 25-17 win at Spyglass Center in Wheaton.

St. Francis (15-0) didn't lead in Game 1 until 25-24, but that didn't stop it from taking a match between the most storied programs in Illinois volleyball history. The two have combined for 21 state titles.

"We started off really, really slow," said Spartans senior Kelsey Robinson, "but once we got the momentum we got our game back and started to score points. It definitely would have been a completely different match had we lost that first game."

Digging out St. Francis' big hitters early, McAuley got out to an 11-5 lead in Game 1. A Robinson block tied it at 13-13, and St. Francis knotted the score again at 15-15. But Spartans errors prevented them from grabbing the lead, and it was 24-21 McAuley after a St. Francis serve sailed long.

But Robinson answered with consecutive kills, and a Katie Parisi ace tied it at 24-24. A McAuley hitting error gave St. Francis its first lead and Parisi put down another ace at game point.

"I was really nervous, but you gotta get that serve in," said senior libero Parisi, who also had 10 digs. "When my serve's on, it's on."

DeJarld said the late-game woes were a recurring theme for a McAuley club that lost eight seniors off last year's 38-3 team.

"The games we've lost we've been letting up the last few points," DeJarld said, "and that comes with youth. We're not going to really get it together until October."

McAuley (3-3) led the second game 9-8 before St. Francis rolled off 6 straight points. Meg Vonderhaar had a kill and Daiva Wise, Gabe Zito and Kristen Kelsay blocks. At 18-11 Robinson all but put the match in the books, smashing in 2 kills and going high for a block. The Tennessee-bound outside had 13 kills, Vonderhaar 7.

"When you start getting that first kill, then that second kill, you get momentum," said Robinson, who lost to McAuley as a sophomore. "It was definitely an awesome atmosphere to play in. They have such a great program and we have a great program."

Sophomore Ryann Arundel had 4 kills and 8 assists for McAuley, junior Mary Kate Styler 5 kills.