This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Sports

Mother McAuley Volleyball: Mighty Macs Fall in Three-Set Thriller to Joliet Catholic Academy

After coming back to win the second game, the Mighty Macs were unable to stop JCA from pulling away in the third in a season-opening battle between perennial powerhouses.

For any sports team, the first game or match of the season will bring some opening-night jitters. Combine that with an opponent who was the IHSA Class 3A state runner-up last season, and it almost certainly won’t be a stress-free season opener.

With a playoff-like atmosphere at Mother McAuley’s home gym, the Mighty Macs played Joliet Catholic Academy to a tough three-set match in their 2011 debut. But after splitting two tightly contested games, Joliet Catholic pulled away to a 25-11 win over Mother McAuley in Game 3.

“It was a typical first match of the season, a lot of missed serves, not a lot of communication and silly things happening,” McAuley coach Jennifer DeJarld said. “

Find out what's happening in Evergreen Parkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Both teams were shaky at the start, committing several service and hitting errors. A hitting error from Joliet Catholic gave Mother McAuley its first lead of the match at 7-6, but that was the only time the Mighty Macs would lead in Game 1. Back-to-back kills from JCA’s Morgan Reardon gave Joliet Catholic the first game, 25-22.

In Game 2, McAuley’s offense found a better rhythm and exhibited crisper passing. Defensively, the Mighty Macs got a couple of big digs from senior libero Bridget Powell to maintain their lead. After JCA rallied to tie the game 22-22, McAuley won the final three points, thanks to a kill from Ryann Arundel and back-to-back blocks from senior middle Lauren Grady.

Find out what's happening in Evergreen Parkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“I was happy with their performance in Game 2,” DeJarld said. “I thought Game 1 was a decent game as well, it was neck-and-neck.”

But JCA seized momentum early in the deciding game, getting out to a 5-0 lead. The Angels never let the lead get under three points, and they finished the game off with a 10-2 run.

Powell led McAuley with 18 digs, while senior Lizzy Scanlon was the team leader in kills with seven. Arundel finished with five kills and sophomore setter Courtney Joyce chipped in six kills.

McAuley plays Lockport on the road next Tuesday.

“The pace of our game was a little slower than I would have liked, so I think that’s only going to come in time and we’ll definitely work out those things,” DeJarld said. “Offensively, we just need to have my hitters execute the kills more.”

Download the movie

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Evergreen Park