Marist takes down rival McAuley

Updated: March 22, 2011 5:10PM

Marist senior Caroline Niedospial broke the school record - her own - again Thursday night with an amazing 41 digs.

She thought that was cool.

But what the RedHawks broke with a 21-25, 25-18, 25-15 victory over Mother McAuley in the Class 4A Shepard Sectional title match meant so much more.

"This was a lot better," a smiling Niedospial said after helping lead Marist to its first supersectional and its first postseason win over their Southwest Side rival.

Afterward, emotions poured everywhere among the Marist faithful, who have had so many stellar seasons end in disappointment - four previous times at the hands of the Mighty Macs.

"I'm just trying to take it all in," misty-eyed Marist coach Natalie Holder said. "Nine years is a long wait. This is a big deal."

Marist (37-2) will meet Lyons Township (38-1) in Saturday's Class 4A T.F. South Supersectional. Lyons Township's only loss was a 25-21, 25-21 decision to Marist in the Rich East Invitational title match.

The bottom line Thursday? Both teams played great defense. Hit well. Scrambled heroically.

At the net, in the middle, in the clutch, it was all Marist as 6-foot-1 senior Katie Krasowski had 12 kills and five blocks and 6-4 junior Lauren Zielinski eight kills and four blocks.

Zielinski devastated McAuley in Game 3 with four kills and a block during an 8-2 run that opened up what had been a skin-tight 13-12 battle.

"Everybody just wanted to win so badly and play their best," the credit-sharing Zielinski said. "This was amazing. Our team is a family and we just wanted to win for each other."

Other "family" members with big numbers in Marist's biggest-ever victory were Ashley Holder (34 assists), Mallory Salis (9 kills) and Courtney Collins (five kills).

Leading McAuley (31-8) were Lizzy Scanlon (16 kills), Kailey Scott (27 assists, 16 digs), Bridget Powell (20 digs), Stephanie Tassone (20 digs), Dominique Aramburu (20 digs), Mary Kate Styler (eight kills) and Maddie McElroy (seven kills).

The Macs, who have had a postseason stranglehold on the RedHawks, looked primed to do it again, outslugging Marist in Game 1. Scanlon was fierce, putting down nine kills and making a block as well.

To the huddle they went.

"We knew what we had to fix and we were confident what we had to change," Ashley Holder said. "In the second game it worked really well."

Falling behind 3-0, the RedHawks got back in it as Krasowski worked the net for a block and a kill. Then went in front 10-9 on an ace off the tape by Niedospial and eased away down the stretch.

The RedHawks' confidence seemed to swell in Game 3 as Zielinski dominated at the net. A kill and subsequent ace by Krasowski trigged the big run that was finished off by her partner in the middle.

"We just had a really hard time stopping their middles," McAuley coach Jen DeJarld said. "It came down to their middles vs. our middles. And their middles really outplayed us, with tremendous blocking and seeing the court and putting the ball where we weren't."

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