Marian Central ends Carmel Catholic’s run

The message Megan Mowery penned on the inside of her forearm proved stubborn.

And accurate.

Before the Carmel Catholic volleyball team’s sectional final match, its four-year varsity starter wrote the words “Learning to Fly” with artistic scribbles on her arm as a reminder that the Corsairs, while showing steady progress as a program the last couple of years, had yet to reach their goal of earning a berth downstate.

“I tried to wash it off,” Mowery said. “It’s still there, though.”

The memories of this season will fade slower than the ink on Mowery’s arm. The Corsairs will cherish the former, despite their 25-18, 25-21 loss to Marian Central in the Class 3A Woodstock North supersectional Saturday night.

Carmel, which two nights earlier won only the second sectional title in its history, finished 27-14.

Marian Central (34-6) advances downstate for the second straight year, looking to better last season’s third-place finish.

“They played clean,” Carmel coach David Pazely said of the Hurricanes. “If you can do that on any given night, you can hang with any team in the state.”

The Corsairs’ play was spotty in both sets.

A pair of kills by Taylor Pippen and an ace by Mowery helped stake Carmel to a 6-5 lead in the opening set, but a kill by power-hitting Emma Hussey pulled Marian Central even and the Hurricanes eventually built a 19-10 lead.

Carmel got within 21-18, but the Corsairs’ fifth missed serve ended their rally.

Back-to-back kills by Meredith Patterson provided the Hurricanes’ 24th and 25th points.

“It’s cliché to say you beat yourself, but obviously in the first set we definitely beat ourselves,” Pazely said. “Hats off to Marian. They came out and stayed aggressive the whole match. That’s what you got to do to win. We made errors and made life a little easier for them.”

Carmel jumped out to an early lead again in the second set, as Caitlin Barry’s 2 kills and Shauna Meagher’s ace helped make the score 5-1. But back came Marian Central again, led by Hussey, Patterson, Tara Blake and setter Abby Gilleland.

Carmel staved off match point three times — Haley Nedelka had a block and Mowery pounded a kill — before Blake’s attack couldn’t be handled by the Corsairs.

“The one thing I can say about these girls is they won’t stop fighting, no matter how upset they are, no matter how down they are,” Pazeley said. “They won’t give up, period.”

Jessie Wayland slammed a team-best 6 kills for Carmel. Three players — Pippen, Mowery and Barry — each had five. Meagher and Mowery added 11 and 9 digs, respectively. Jenelle DeWald lofted 11 assists.

Hussey and Patterson each had 8 kills to lead Marian Central.

“They had really good rallies against us,” Mowery said. “They were receiving a lot of what we were giving to them. They just played smarter than us, kept testing us and kept pushing us harder than we’ve ever been pushed before.”

Marian Central won despite several girls fighting illness. Blake went to the bench at one point after feeling lightheaded, coach Laura Watling said. Patterson, a middle blocker, played back row for the first time this season, while libero Caitlin Brocker played only half the match.

“They filled in beautifully,” Watling said of her players. “They picked each other up when they needed to, and they made it work. So I couldn’t be more proud of them.”