Mother McAuley junior Charley Niego had to admit it was pretty neat when she saw the latest rankings that had the Mighty Macs as the No. 1 team in the nation.

“I was looking at PrepVolleyball.com when I noticed it,” the Notre Dame recruit said. “I screenshot it and sent it to the team. Everyone was just really excited.

“It was really special. It's really special to be No. 1 because you are being considered the best team in the nation.”

But …

“We also can't dive into all of the fame,” Niego said with a smile. “We still have to focus on our goal, which is to win state.”

There were no resting on laurels for Niego and the rest of the Mighty Macs in Wednesday's 25-16, 25-13 victory over visiting Lyons.

Niego had four kills and 11 digs, Emma Reilly added 13 digs, Nancy Kane contributed 21 assists and five digs, Ashley Maher had seven digs and Abby O'Brien and MaryKate Boland chipped in with four kills each.

It was a solid close to the regular season for McAuley (33-1), which will begin its state tournament journey Tuesday at the Hinsdale Central Regional.

It has been a while since McAuley sat at the top of the national rankings, according to coach Jen DeJarld.

“I don't ever remember being ranked No. 1 in the country (during the season),” she said. “We had a No. 1 national team ranking at the end of the season in 1995, which we have a banner for.”

DeJarld said it also has been quite a while since she's had a 1-2 punch in the lineup like Niego and O'Connell.

“They equally have been just the driving force for us in the front row and the back row,” she said. “Teams have tried to adjust their block around them, they tried to adjust their defense around them, and both Katie and Charley have done a really good job mixing up their shots and playing at such a high level above the tape.”

O'Connell, a Ferris State commit, has had a stellar senior season with 267 kills. When Niego (408 kills) rotates to the back row, O'Connell takes over in the front.

They're pretty hard to stop.

“We both talk to each other a lot,” O'Connell said. “But everybody talks on the court. We have a special bond on this team, where anybody can step up and be a leader on any given day.

“We've been working so hard since the preseason to get to this point. We're excited for (the playoffs) to start.”

Queen of Peace 25-25, Reavis 23-19: Ashley Kevin had seven kills and Reagan Jasica added six aces for Peace (11-21).

Stagg 25-25, Richards 15-20: Maddie Duffner had 10 assists and Alyssa Migler nine digs to lead Stagg (17-17).

Sandburg 3, Marist 1: Marty Manzke scored twice to propel visiting Sandburg (9-8-2) in the Class 3A Marist Regional semifinal.

Mount Carmel 7, Instituto 0: Josiah Ash netted a hat trick for Mount Carmel (15-4) in the Class 2A Solorio Regional semifinal.

St. Xavier 1, Trinity Christian 0: Jaime Alonso's goal sparked St. Xavier (4-9-2, 4-3-2 CCAC).

Freelance writer Josh Krockey contributed.

abaranek@tribpub.com

Twitter @tbaranek