Macs rebound with win over Providence

Updated: March 22, 2011 4:12PM

For Mother McAuley there was no shame in losing to two of the state's top teams over three days last week, falling to Marist and St. Francis.

As outside hitter MaryKate Styler explains, that mini-slump was, hopefully, just a bump in the road.

"As a team, we feel like those two losses were just a temporary setback," Styler said with a smile. "It was good to see a gauge of where we are right now from where we were last week. All you can do is learn from it, and we're only going to get stronger."

Building off Tuesday's GCAC win over Regina, Mother McAuley dominated a showdown with Providence on Wednesday, winning 25-15, 25-19.

Styler led the Mighty Macs (6-2) with seven kills with Sydney McPhillips (five kills), Bridget Powell (11 digs), Kailey Scott (13 assists, 12 digs) and Stephanie Tassone (12 digs) also contributing.

"It's always tough to rebound from losses," McAuley coach Jen DeJarld said. "Practices have been great this week, and that's huge heading into the weekend (at the Rich East Invitational). We just need to keep blocking and working on putting balls away."

For visiting Providence Catholic (12-3), Katie Urchell finished with eight kills and nine digs. Maggie Ruettiger added 13 digs and Krista Brakauskas had 13 assists.

McAuley ran away with Game 1, going on an extended 18-5 run midway through.

The Celtics overcame their own struggles offensively to stick with the hosts in the second game, finding themselves down just 14-12 following an Urchell kill.

Then after a relatively quiet game and a half, Styler came to life with three straight kills and a block.

"I was just loose, and we played together as a team," Styler said. "We communicated and worked well together and ran the plays."

After a rotation substitution, Maddie McElroy and McPhillips picked up the slack. McElroy had a kill and McPhillips two more as McAuley went ahead for good, finally winning on a Peggy Clemens kill, her first of the match.

For the Celtics, the team is still regrouping from losing four-year varsity starter Noelle Burchett to a season-ending ACL injury.

"McAuley's the most talented team we've played since St. Ignatius a couple of weeks ago," Providence coach Rachel Ellingson said. "We went in spurts, but what killed us was those chunks of points where we let them get back into it."

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