Local Roundup
Mightiest comeback
Mother McAuley rallies to edge Geneva in 4A supersectional
It was hard to tell what came next after senior middle hitter MaryKate Boland took the mightiest swing of her life for Mother McAuley's final point.
Was it the ball hitting inbounds or the tears rolling down her face?
One thing was for certain: It only took a few seconds after McAuley outlasted Geneva in Saturday's Class 4A Hinsdale South Supersectional before all of the Mighty Macs were crying their eyes out.
The 22-25, 25-20, 25-21 win was dramatic. It should rank among the most stunning playoff comebacks in McAuley history.
It will also rank as one of the most emotional. A full 15 minutes after her match-clinching spike, Boland and her teammates were still hugging, still crying.
“I know,” Boland said, mixing in a laugh. “I can't stop. Oh, I was just so hoping it was in. That most definitely was the biggest (kill) of my life.”
She was a hero among many for McAuley (38-1), who advanced to the Class 4A state semifinals in Normal.
Notre Dame recruit Charley Niego had 12 kills and 17 digs for the Mighty Macs, ranked No. 1 in the nation. Katie O'Connell contributed 11 kills, four blocks and 15 digs.
Nancy Kane had 31 assists and three blocks. No assist was more incredible than the last, which saw her intercept a ball that was wafting toward the net as an overpass and set up Boland for the clinching kill.
Emma Reilly, meanwhile, delivered 11 digs and landed four aces. Three of the aces came during a seven-point run in Game 2 that allowed McAuley to rally from a 17-14 deficit.
“I was just thinking, ‘All right, I'm going to take this game right now,' ” Reilly said. “We needed to execute more, and I wanted to do what I could to help the team at the service line.”
Reilly had ice in her veins at that moment. Not so much afterward. Like everybody else, she did her share of making the floor wet with tears.
“I think it's because every year we've come so close and haven't been able to finish it,” Reilly said, referring to early playoff exits in 2014 and 2015. “This year it was different.
“All of these girls have been waiting to go downstate their whole careers. We've looked up to McAuley girls who have gone downstate. To be able to do it ourselves is just amazing.”
The comebacks were myriad.
The first occurred in Game 1, when the Mighty Macs trailed 21-12, only to roar back and take Geneva (37-2) to the brink.
But the Vikings, who featured 6-foot-2 outside hitter Grace Loberg (14 kills) and 6-1 outside hitter Ally Barrett (13 kills), only seemed slowed up a little. They led from the start of Game 2 and by as many as four points before Reilly's serving streak rallied McAuley.
Game 3 also looked grim for the Mighty Macs, who fell behind 11-4 and didn't look good in doing so. Geneva still led 19-15 when Niego crushed a kill and Abby O'Brien provided another to start the ultimate comeback.
Perhaps the final turnaround was O'Connell, who went back-to-back with a block and a kill to break a 19-19 tie — this after Geneva seemingly was picking her out to hit against earlier in the game.
“Yeah, they were,” O'Connell said. “But I knew I had my teammates behind me, and I knew they could do it — that we could all do it. I did it for my teammates. We were all excited, and I knew how much this means. We went down freshman year to watch the state championship team. We want that, too.”
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