Buczek serves up a win for Sandburg

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It’s good to have options.

Sandburg junior Jenny Buczek used hers when the Eagles needed it the most in Tuesday night’s 25-18, 25-18 Class 4A Eisenhower Sectional semifinal victory over Stagg.

The 5-foot-9 outside hitter fired five aces from the service line — four of them during critical stretches at the end of each game.

“Yeah, I wasn’t really delivering in the front row,” Buczek said. “I just had to pick it up somewhere.”

The SouthtownStar No. 1 Eagles (32-6) advanced to Thursday’s 7 p.m. sectional championship against No. 5 Mother McAuley (28-10). The Mighty Macs continued their postseason hex over No. 2 Marist, beating the RedHawks 25-13, 23-25, 25-14.

Buczek added five kills, while MaryKate Imrie (14 assists, nine digs, five blocks), Lanie Muys (11 service points, four kills, three blocks) and Amanda Kijewski (six kills) also were key for Sandburg, which beat No. 7 Stagg (23-15) for the second time this season.

The Chargers were led by Maggie Strus (11 kills, 11 digs, four blocks), Allison Kazaitis (15 assists, 13 digs) and Katie Massey (six kills).

Game 1 was close at 19-16, and Game 2 was deadlocked at 17-17, when Sandburg found a higher gear. During the two decisive runs by the Eagles, Buczek was deadly from the service line, while Stagg flinched badly.

Three times the Chargers were called for rotation errors when they could least afford them.

In Mother McAuley’s win over Marist, Ellen Carberry had 12 kills, MaryKate Styler 10 kills, Paulina Sambor eight kills and five blocks, Jessica Galotta six kills and three blocks, Bridget Powell 25 digs and Kailey Scott 37 assists and 13 digs.

Seniors Katie Krasowski and Molly Murphy had 10 kills each, Lauren Zielinski and Courtney Collins seven kills each, Caroline Niedospial 35 digs and Ashley Holder 35 assists for Marist (29-9).

Mother McAuley continued a string of state playoff victories that extends the length of Marist’s varsity program. Magic?

“Tradition,” Galotta said. “We train really hard. We practice really hard. We’re not complacent. And our tradition helps us get through a lot.”

On Sept. 15, Marist beat McAuley 25-22, 25-16. It was pretty obvious early on this was going to be a different story. The Mighty Macs, pounding the ball and bringing up almost everything Marist hit over the net, raced to a 6-1 lead. Marist never got closer the rest of Game 1.

Game 2 saw the RedHawks gain their balance. Hitting with confidence, they matched McAuley point for point before Collins put down two kills and Zielinski the game-ending point.

When they returned to the court, however, McAuley immediately bolted to a 5-0 lead. The RedHawks got back to within 13-11, but Carberry keyed an 8-1 run that allowed the Mighty Macs to pull away.