Girls volleyball: Barrington falls to Mother McAuley in 4A state semifinals
NORMAL - Barrington senior outside hitter Jenna Meitzler's eyes slowly started to shed a few tears in the aftermath of her second-to-last high school game late Friday night.
Part of a historic stellar class, Meitzler and her teammates were looking to add one final glorious ending to their careers.
But state powerhouse Mother McAuley has made a habit of ending championship runs by teams from throughout the state through the years.
Friday's second 4A semifinal was another example of the Mighty Macs living up to their nickname. Mother McAuley moved a match closer to adding its 17th state championship, defeating Barrington 25-19, 25-12 at CEFCU Arena.
"We all honestly want to be in the state championship, but at the end of the day, I'm blessed to have such great teammates," Meitzler said.
The Fillies (35-6) can add to their growing trophy case in Saturday's third-place game against Willowbrook. Barrington's senior class has raised the bar for the program, placing third in 4A in 2021 and third last season.
Meitzler, an Iowa recruit, pounded down a team-high 8 kills and 7 digs, while Whitney Mall collected 7 kills and Gwen Adler registered 16 assists and 4 digs. Mother McAuley (36-4) downed the Fillies (35-5) in 46 minutes, finishing with 9 aces. Ellie White, a Michigan signee, highlighted the Mighty Macs' effort with 10 kills, 10 digs and a pair of aces. Teammate Peyton Heatherly compiled 18 assists.
Barrington coach Michelle Jakubowski said she has fond memories of her 13-member senior class, including watching them from the other side of the school's gym curtain during the coronavirus pandemic in their freshman season.
"This group made it to state three out of three," Jakubowski said. "They are amazing on the court, but also off the court as individuals and leaders. It's going to be super sad tomorrow. I remember in the fall of their freshman year. They were across the court, on the other side of the curtain and they weren't allowed to come in. I had to use a microphone to make them come back and forth, but we knew they would be special ... They've grown and learned from the other players in our program and then just took over from there. I'm blessed and incredibly lucky and will cherish the four years I had with them."
The Fillies made two key hitting errors that allowed the Mighty Macs to pull away in a crucial part of the first set. Meitzler delivered a kill to cut the deficit to 23-19 but the Mighty Macs closed out the set with two straight points.
In the second set, Mall and Meitzler had back-to-back kills to cut the deficit down to 16-9, but the Mighty Macs picked up an ace from Sam Falk and White to pull away.
Jakubowski credited Mother McAuley for playing an outstanding two-sets.
"The first contact, we just didn't pass very well," she said. "That makes it hard run our offense we do have when we're not passing very well. I thought we were still in the first set and had some opportunities to actually get it within one. We fought hard in the first set. I was really proud of them. We kind of let it get away in the second set. We came out strong but let it get away."
Barrington senior middle blocker Berkeley Ploder, a Georgetown recruit, said the seniors are looking to end their careers with one more memorable victory.
"We're blessed to have this opportunity for the last three years," Ploder said. "We have to come out and play our game, be focused because we know what we want tomorrow. We can get it."