During senior Megan Krasowski's first rotation through the front row in Tuesday night's Class 4A Marist Sectional semifinal against Benet, she was really rocking.

The 5-foot-11 right-side hitter had two blasts for kill, two nicely placed tips for kills, two blocks — and a whole lot of swagger for the host RedHawks.

When she swatted the two Benet spikes back, she also let out some pretty excited hoots and hollers.

“I was (excited),” Krasowski said later with a smile. “We had to start off strong and get the momentum going.”

It never really stopped as Marist earned a 25-13, 25-22 victory and advanced to a sectional championship showdown at 6 p.m. Thursday against Mother McAuley, ranked No. 1 in the nation.

Krasowski had a big night for the RedHawks (30-9) with eight kills, seven digs and four blocks. Maggie Meyer added seven kills, Molly Murrihy had 24 assists and eight digs, and Savannah Thompson delivered three aces.

When Krasowski finally rotated to the back row in Game 1, Marist had a 13-3 lead. It was a stunning turnaround from their previous two matches, which went to Benet.

“We prepared really hard for this,” Meyer said. “We were just focused and ready to go. We were out for blood.”

Benet (32-6) regained its balance in Game 2 behind the hitting duo of Lilly Johnson (10 kills) and Veronica Snelling (7 kills), but Marist proved tougher in the point-for-point battle as well.

Marist led 21-18 when Thompson struck for back-to-back aces. Benet got back within 23-21, but Krasowski and Meyer accounted for the RedHawks' final two points with kills.

In the first match, Mother McAuley swept Sandburg 25-17, 25-14.

The Mighty Macs (36-1) were led by Notre Dame recruit Charley Niego (13 kills, 11 digs, 4 blocks), Katie O'Connell (9 kills, 9 digs), MaryKate Boland (5 kills, 2 blocks), Emma Reilly (11 digs) and Nancy Kane (25 assists, 6 digs).

Anna Jonynas had 11 kills and Erica Staunton added five kills for Sandburg (27-11).

It was a big night for Boland. The 5-11 senior middle blocker drove two spikes through the heart of Sandburg's midcourt defense, but also kept the Eagles twisting in futility at three flicks of the wrist for tip kills.

“I think it's important to be smart where you put the ball,” Boland said. “There are always times you see a hole in the block where you can blast it, but if there is a big block in front of you, you can always be smart and tip over it or around it.

“The tips can be good if a really fast (volley) is going on. It can slow things down. As the games goes on teams tend to play farther back, so it's nice to use a tip to make them move.”

Boland has 83 kills and 71 total blocks this season.

“MaryKate is really fun to be around,” Niego said. “I can always count on her. She's one of the most consistent players on our team. That one little tip she does in front of the libero really takes teams off.”

abaranek@tribpub.com

Twitter @tbaranek