Who will come home champs?
Class 3A State Tournament
Semifinals: St. Francis vs. Breese Mater Dei, Friday, 4:30 p.m.; Marian Central vs. Marian Catholic, 6 p.m.; Championship match: Saturday, 5:30 p.m.
Inside St. Francis vs. Mater Dei: Two of Illinois' most storied girls volleyball programs meet on the court for the first time since 2000. St. Francis, with eight state championships on its resume, is making its 16th state tournament appearance — first since the Spartans took second in Clas 3A in 2007. St. Francis' last title came in 2006. Defending 3A champion Mater Dei is back at Redbird Arena for the fourth straight year. The six-time champs, who beat Joliet Catholic in last year's final, are making their 21st appearance. St. Francis and Mater Dei boast the two winningest coaches in state history — Peg Kopec of St. Francis (1,094) and Fred Rakers of Mater Dei (1,046), who resigned as head coach after last season and is now an assistant to son Chad Rakers. St. Francis beat Mater Dei in the 2000 and 1988 Class A semifinals, Mater Dei winning a semifinal match in 1995. St. Francis (34-6) is ranked 68th nationally in the latest PrepVolleyball.com rankings, Mater Dei (37-3) 81st. St. Francis, which has won 11 straight matches since the Asics Challenge, hasn't dropped a set in five playoff matches — including an impressive sectional final win at Joliet Catholic.
St. Francis' senior middle Daiva Wise, a Toledo recruit, has a team-high 237 kills with 86 blocks. Cincinnati-bound senior setter Carly Warner has 536 assists, 195 kills and 172 digs and outside Grace Churney 199 kills. Mater Dei's only loss to an in-state team came to Edwardsville Oct. 17, who Mater Dei beat in a previous meeting. Coincidentally Edwardsville also beat St. Francis in three sets at the Effingham Crossroads Classic.
Mater Dei's 5-foot-10 senior outside Brooke Schulte, who leads the team with 298 kills, is also a 1,000-plus point scorer for the school's basketball team, and is committed to DePaul for basketball. Other top Mater Dei players include 5-10 senior outside Kayla Eversgerd (205 kills), 6-2 senior middle Abbey Winter (201 kills) and 5-9 senior setter Sam Bedard (803 assists). The town of Breese is also represented in the Class 2A semifinals by Breese Central, last year's 2A runner-up and a three-time state champion.
“That area is pretty much a hotbed of volleyball,” Kopec said. “They (Mater Dei) are good. They are very athletic — those seniors have been downstate four years.” Kopec is no stranger to Redbird Arena, but these St. Francis seniors were eighth-graders the last time the school made it to state. Spartans McKenna Kelsay and Mary Boken do have older sisters who played at state for St. Francis. “You can tell them a little bit about what's going to happen, how it works,” Kopec said. “It will be visually new but not a surprise. It never gets old — it's a thrill to be here.”
Inside Marian Central vs. Marian Catholic: Marian Central (34-6) returns to state for the sixth time, and second straight year after taking third in 3A last year. Two of the Hurricanes' losses came to Suburban Christian Blue rival St. Francis. Marian Central is 1-5 in six matches at state, its first win coming in last year's third-place match over Chicago Payton. Marian Central's Saint Louis-bound senior setter Abby Gilleland, who has 781 assists and 162 kills, was Suburban Christian Conference Co-Player of the Year with Daiva Wise of St. Francis.
Emma Hussey (244 kills) is a hitter to watch. Marian Catholic (24-16) is making its first state appearance since 2002. The Spartans, who went just 4-5 in the East Suburban Catholic Conference, were a middling 12-15 as late as Oct. 11 after a loss to Marist. Marian Catholic is 12-1 since then and riding an eight-match win streak. And the Spartans are young. Kill leader Amber Clay is a sophomore outside, setter Colleen Rynne is a junior, middle Kendyl Todd is a sophomore and fellow middle Kelsey Clark a freshman.
Class 4A State Tournament
Semifinals: Benet vs. St. Charles East, Friday, 7:30 p.m.; Cary-Grove. vs. Marist, Friday, 9 p.m. Championship match: Saturday, 8:55 p.m.
Inside Benet vs. St. Charles East: They meet again. For the fourth time this season, Benet will take the court opposite St. Charles East. It's been all Redwings up to this point. Benet won the season opener in St. Charles, the championship match at Mizuno Cup and semifinals at Autumnfest — all in straight sets, the closest set 25-20. “But we're going in looking at this is a new match,” Benet coach Brad Baker said. “We have to play our game. Whatever happens on their side happens on their side.” Of course, these two have a history at Redbird Arena, too. Benet's last state appearance, in 2008, ended with an upset loss to St. Charles East. The Saints that night won their second state championship; Benet is still searching for its first.
Benet is 29th nationally in the latest PrepVolleyball.com rankings, St. Charles East 56th. The Redwings are rolling of late, winners of 18 straight matches since an Oct. 6 loss to Marist. Benet hasn't lost a set in its last seven matches and won all tournaments it entered in this year, going 11-0 on Saturdays.
“We're using our strengths,” Baker said, “and one of our strengths is our balance. When you spread it around it makes it difficult for other teams to defend you.” Benet's superior size, led by 6-foot-3 Wisconsin-bound middle Meghan Haggerty (234 kills, 73 blocks), 6-foot right-side and Virginia Tech recruit Jenna Jendryk (258 kills, 69 blocks) and 6-1 sophomore outside Maddie Haggerty (195 kills) have given St. Charles East fits in the three matches.
Saints seniors Meghan Niski and Maisey Mulvey started as freshmen for the 2008 state champions. Niski, a 5-11 outside committed to James Madison, leads the Saints with 399 kills but St. Charles East's other hitters have stepped up their game of late. St. Charles East stunned York in the sectional final, and has won its last three matches in three sets. Benet has yet to drop a set in the playoffs. A Benet state championship this weekend would be its first in a girls team sport. “The girls are extremely excited,” Baker said. “When you play high school volleyball, this is where you want to be.”
Inside Cary-Grove vs. Marist: Cary-Grove has qualified for the Final Four for the third straight season. The Trojans won the school's first state title in any team sport in 2009. Cary-Grove entered the 2010 state title match undefeated and ranked No. 1 in the country by PrepVolleyball.com, but lost a three-game thriller to Lyons. “We learned a lot from our last two matches of last year,” coach Patty Langanis said. “We played tight. We had to reflect and learn lessons from that so it doesn't happen again.” This squad is led by senior co-captain Ashley Rosch (Illinois State), who has played a significant role for all three Cary-Grove Final Four teams.
Rosch moved this season from middle blocker to outside hitter and thrived with 331 kills, 288 digs, 71 blocks and 54 aces. Senior outside hitter Melanie Jereb (Creighton) is another dependable all-around threat with 298 kills, 56 blocks, 330 digs and 54 jump-serve aces. Senior middle blocker Shelia Wilhelmi leads the team in blocks (136) and senior libero Nicole Schuh paces the Trojans with 404 digs. Junior setter Jess Bartczyszyn has 721 assists, 118 digs, 75 blocks and 26 aces. Adept at dumping passes, she also has 68 kills. Marist makes its first appearance in a state semifinal. Senior setter Ashley Holder enters the semifinals with 1,052 assists, 428 digs and 31 aces. Her main weapon is junior outside hitter Mallory Salis, who has 385 kills, 334 digs, and 49 blocks.
Sales is committed to Ohio University, where she will become a teammate of 2011 Cary-Grove graduate Kelly Lamberti. Junior hitter Kelly Marcinek led Marist past Lyons in the supersectional with 12 kills and 9 digs. Marcinek has 317 kills, 54 aces and 210 digs this season. Cary-Grove beat Marist in last year's Asics Challenge, the teams' last meeting.