Girls volleyball: Montini punches ticket to state
The quiet bus ride home after a loss to Glenbard West on August 28 was something Montini didn't want to experience again.
Thirty-three straight wins later, the Lady Broncos still haven't.
On Friday night, Montini added a Class 2A IC Catholic Supersectional championship to its amazing run, defeating Rock Falls 25-17, 25-18 in Elmhurst.
Improving to 38-1 on the fall, the Lady Broncos advance to the state semifinals at Redbird Arena where they will square off against Breese Mater Dei next Friday. Those two teams already met back on October 23 with Montini winning in two games.
"When we lost that first match, and now only match, of the season, that lit a fire under us," said senior Paige Pickering. "We hated that feeling, we hated that bus ride home. We didn't want to feel that again so we've worked our butts off in practice. We haven't lost since so I guess it's working.
"This feels so awesome. I don't have any other word but awesome. Every time I see that Supersectional plaque, my breath is taken away."
The Lady Broncos led from start to finish in the opener after jumping out to a 7-3 lead. Pickering had four kills while Maddie Kasallis and Jordan Heatherly had five apiece.
"This is so special," said Kasallis, whose kill ended game one. "I'm just so unbelievably proud of my team. We've worked so hard. And we've held each other accountable, from showing up to practice to getting all our reps in. We realized we all wanted the same thing and we had to work together if we wanted to reach our goals."
Montini also charged out to a 9-2 advantage in the second game but the Lady Rockers fought back. Rock Falls tied the score at 15-all and later 17-apiece before the Lady Broncos scored eight of the final nine points. An ace by Pickering sent the team to its second state semifinals in program history; the 2014 squad placed fourth.
"We've wanted this since freshman year," said senior libero Reegan Boyer, who along with Kasallis and Pickering have been on the varsity for four years. "We've been working for it and we worked even harder for it this year. But our work isn't done, we have two more matches.
"We are one big friend group and that is rare to have on a team. And that shows when we are out on the court. We play together and if we can continue to work together like we have been working together, you see the results."
Kasallis finished with nine kills, Pickering had eight kills and two aces and Heatherly totaled six kills.
"This is unbelievable," said second-year Montini coach Trish Samolinski. "They've given so much time in the gym since I came in last year with the goal to get down to state. This is 100-percent a team effort from the bench to the fans to the school.
"Rock Falls is tough. They are fantastic and well-coached, we knew it would be a grind."
Rock Falls, with only five seniors on its roster, had also entered with 37 wins and only one defeat, with 34 of those victories in two games. Mallory Pinske led the team with 7 kills and Claire Bickett and Maya Sands had six apiece.
Sands will play at UNLV next year and Pinske will continue her career at the University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown.
"We had that little spurt in the second game," Rock Falls coach Sheila Pillars said. "That's how we mainly played all season. Montini is an excellent team, they took us out of some things.
"We had a great group of senior leaders. A lot of them are going on to play in college and they really laid the ground work for the underclassmen."
Metea Valley d. Andrew:
Morgan Rank presumably has much greater things in store for her volleyball career after signing with the University of Alabama.
But the Metea Valley senior libero has unfinished business for the remainder of her final high school season.
Rank had half of her Class 4A Plainfield North girls volleyball supersectional match-high 4 aces at the most opportune time.
Rank put Metea Valley on the brink of winning the first set with a critical service point, and proceeded to close out Andrew with the last of her service winners to send the Mustangs' program to new heights.
The Mustangs, just like their sectional championship match against Plainfield North, dodged two set points in the opener and completely dominated the second game for a 26-24, 25-8 victory over the Thunderbolts Friday evening in Plainfield.
The Metea Valley girls volleyball program is assured of the first team trophy - in any sport for either gender - in school history by advancing to the Final Four.
In improving to 38-2 - extending its winning streak to 22 matches in the process - Metea Valley earned a semifinal date with Barrington, which outlasted Fremd in three sets at Lake Zurich, in the second semifinal at Illinois State University on Friday in Normal.
Andrew had its season end at 26-14.
"We just have so much confidence in one another," Rank said. "Going into this game, we knew we were going to have to fight no matter what. (Advancing to state) means the world to me. We made a dream come true."
Andrew seemed poised to take the first set when junior standout Amber Gahse blocked a Metea Valley kill attempt for a 23-19 lead.
But Metea Valley junior outside Kira Hutson, who finished with a match-best 12 kills, forged a 24-24 tie with a brilliant block.
Rank then served the ace to completely reverse the teams' predicaments.
Hutson then left no doubt to the final verdict in the opening set as the junior rifled home her third straight set-point kill in postseason play to thoroughly deflate the Thunderbirds.
Andrew never truly recovered from the Mustangs ending the first set on a 7-1 run.
Scoring 8 consecutive points to seize command, the Mustangs were never threatened after racing out to a 9-2 second-set lead.
Hutson had two back-row kills to exemplify the Mustangs' second-set brilliance.
"They blocked one of them,' Hutson said. "I didn't want them to think they could do that on a regular basis. I just wanted to rip away at it."
The Mustangs' second-set lead only ballooned as Annabelle Troy, who complemented Rank and Hutson with 8 kills and 2 aces, shined throughout the clinching set.
Regan Holmer orchestrated the Mustangs' attack with 18 assists; Rank had 15 digs to further anchor the defense.
"We didn't underestimate Metea by any means," Gahse said. "We just slowly broke down."
- Kevin McGavin
Mother McAuley d. Willowbrook:
The Willowbrook volleyball team has spent the entire year turning heads. Winning all but one of its first 38 matches and securing the first sectional championship in school history, it seemed there was nothing the group couldn't achieve.
However, taking on top-ranked Mother McAuley proved to be a task too tall for the Warriors. Though it hung neck-and-neck with the vaunted Mighty Macs, Willowbrook ultimately lost 25-18, 25-21 in the Class 4A Mother McAuley supersectional Friday night.
McAuley, 15-time state champion, advanced to face Edwardsville in next Friday's state semifinal.
"I'm so proud of this team for just a historic run and what we've done for Willowbrook High School," said Warriors coach Irene Mason. "Our goal coming into this was to get conference and regional champions again this year. We far surpassed the goals that we set for ourselves in the beginning, to the point where we had to keep making new goals every time because we were achieving them all."
Willowbrook proved it was going to be a tough out to start the night, battling back and forth with the Mighty Macs and forcing an 8-8 tie midway through the first set. But three kills from sophomore Ellie White quickly helped push Mother McAuley to a 13-9 advantage.
White would add another kill after a Warriors timeout, with the Mighty Macs stretching their lead to as much as eight points. Kills from sophomore Calli Kenny and senior Kyla Ostrowski brought Willowbrook back within five, but Mother McAuley senior Peyton Brokemond added a pair of late spikes to secure a 25-18 set win.
"The level of intensity both teams played with tonight was impressive," said Mason. "We knew they were a great team coming into this, and we knew the level that we were going to have to be at. I think both teams played incredible defense."
The Warriors fell behind early in the second set, calling a timeout after Mother McAuley grabbed a 9-3 lead. With nerves settled, Willowbrook clawed its way back into the contest, trimming the deficit to 15-14 thanks to crucial kills from Hannah Kenny. The freshman led the team with six kills on the night, proudly letting everyone know the stage wasn't too big for her.
"I knew I really had to come through for our team," Kenny said. "We needed a fire, and somebody needed to step up. All the cheering and that energy, it really just makes me want to play better."
Those efforts didn't go unnoticed from her coach.
"She's a one-of-a-kind type of kid," Mason said of Kenny. "Early on during one playoff game, she did say the nerves got to her a little bit. We worked on some stuff with that in practice, and she hasn't turned around since."
Kenny added another kill down the stretch, forcing Mother McAuley to cling to a 21-20 edge. But the Mighty Macs responded with a 4-1 run, blocking a final Willowbrook kill attempt and bringing its triumphant season to a close.
Though they fell short of the state semifinals, the Warriors know such a successful year will only increase expectations from here on out. Yet, it's a challenge they're more than ready for, with Kenny already eyeing a rematch just minutes after the game's conclusion.
"I'm ready to come back next year, beat Mother McAuley and go to state," said Kenny. "This is just the beginning for us. We're all ready for bigger things to come."
- Casey Drottar