McAuley, Marist rivals but friends

Updated: March 22, 2011 5:10PM

If there is any heat in the "heated" volleyball rivalry that Mother McAuley

and Marist have had over the past

several years, it wasn't evident Tuesday at Shepard High School.

Mother McAuley had just beaten Sandburg in a hard-fought Class 4A sectional

semifinal match. Now it was a mass mingle, as the Marist girls who had been

watching attentively came down on the court.

There was plenty of conversation and even hugs between the girls from the

Southwest Side's two Catholic powerhouses.

What in the world?

"Well, when we're on the court it's a competition but outside of volleyball

we're good friends," Marist junior Ashley Holder said. "I play club with

four of the girls on the team, and I've played club with a bunch of them in

the past."

Guaranteed, there won't be any pleasantries while No. 1 Marist (36-2) is

trying to shake off a curious playoff history against the No. 2 Mighty Macs

(31-7).

It is one of tonight's four sectional semis featuring Southland teams. At

Oak Forest, the Bengals host Illiana Christian in 3A, while Chicago

Christian is in a 2A tilt at Plano and Morgan Park Academy vies for a 1A

crown at Somonauk.

Since 2005, Marist is 7-2 in regular-season meetings with McAuley, including

2-0 in 2010. But in the teams' four postseason meetings over the same span,

the Mighty Macs have been able to turn the tables and keep the RedHawks from

having a chance to go to state.

Is it psychological? A curse? The McAuley "mystique" reaching out and

grabbing Marist by the throat?

"We don't really look at it like that," Holder said. "We're a brand new

team, and we just want to go out there and beat who's in front of us. We

don't even think about that. Some people might bring it up, but we just want

to go out there and win. We're prepared. We're ready."

In a 25-23, 25-18 victory over Providence Catholic in Tuesday's sectional

semifinal, it was textbook Marist, 2010 style. The RedHawks bent, but during

crunch time were unflappable. This time it was sophomore Mallory Salis who

stepped up at the end of Game 1 with one of her 11 kills.

It was reminiscent of both regular-season matches with McAuley-Marist

fighting off match point to prevail in their battle at the Rich East

Invitational and surviving another three-game encounter at home.

The Mighty Macs, meanwhile, roared back from early deficits in both games

against Sandburg and held off late challenges from the Eagles to win 25-22,

27-25. Outside hitter Mary Kate Styler was McAuley's top power source with

13 kills, while junior Lizzy Scanlon added seven kills -including the

match-winner.

"We are definitely fully confident in ourselves," Scanlon said. "We've

prepared so well, and we're ready to take them on in the third (meeting).

It's going to be a great match."

At Oak Forest, No. 6 Illiana (29-4) is favored to knock off the Bengals

(21-16).

Oak Forest, behind a spread-it-around offense, was able to avenge a

regular-season loss to Evergreen Park in a 25-22, 21-25, 25-21 semifinal

victory. Brittany Doyle, one of the Bengals' best hitters during an

up-and-down season, was sharp against the Mustangs with seven kills.

The Vikings, the No. 1 seed in the sectional field, had some problems with

Rich Central's height in Tuesday's semi but got the job done in a 25-20,

25-23 victory behind eight kills by Felicia Schaap, seven by Jaclene Bonnema

and six by Katie Larson.

No. 5 Chicago Christian (26-11), hoping for a repeat trip to state in Class

2A, faces Peotone at Plano. The Knights were challenged for the second

postseason match in a row on Tuesday, needing some crunch-time heroics in

Game 2 before prevailing 25-11, 25-21. Stacey Kamp reprised her effort

against Mount Assisi on Saturday with seven kills, while Maggie Kamp led the

way with 12 kills.

It will be the first meeting of the season between Chicago Christian and

Peotone, which defeated Westmont

28-26, 25-16 in the other semi.

Morgan Park Academy's Cinderella run continues in the Somonauk Sectional

final. The Warriors (25-9) meet Ottawa Marquette (23-9). Both teams cruised

in Tuesday's semifinals, with senior middle Julia Panozzo starring for MPA

in the win over Shabonna Indian Creek.

"She's been a four-year starter for us," MPA coach Tom Daker said. "She's

our best server, best passer, she hits from the back row. She's got the

emotion out there. As she goes, the team goes.

"Marquette is a very solid team. They've got a lot of height, with big

hitters. It'll be a tough, tough, tough game for us."

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