Marian Catholic girls volleyball team headed to state

PARK FOREST | No matter the weather, a trip to Normal couldn't sound better to the Marian Catholic volleyball team.

Behind a lethal front-line attack and a resilient defense, the Spartans earned a trip to the state tournament with a 25-18, 25-13 victory over Payton College Prep on Saturday night in the Class 3A Rich East Supersectional.

It is the Spartans' first trip since the 2002 season, when they qualified for the AA Elite Eight in a two-class format.

With the win, the Spartans (24-16) will play Woodstock Marian Central at 6 p.m. Friday in one semifinal at Redbird Arena in Normal. The match will be preceded by the other Class 3A semifinal between Breese Mater Dei and St. Francis. The final matches will be played Saturday at the same location, starting with the third-place match at 12:25 p.m.

"I've never been to Normal, but I am so happy to say I will be going there," Spartans junior setter Colleen Rynne said. "We seem like a different team now, to be honest. It's been a complete turnaround from the beginning of the season to the playoffs now."

At no point Saturday did the Spartans look like a team that had an 8-11 record three weeks into the season. The Spartans never trailed in either game and reduced the play of Chicago Public School player of the year Michelle Schultz to an afterthought by holding the Grizzlies' senior outside hitter to three kills. Payton College Prep had 17 unforced errors.

The Grizzlies (28-12) limited Spartans outside hitter Amber Clay to four kills. The Grizzlies, however, had no answer for the offensive or defensive inside play of the Spartans. Freshman middle hitter Kelsey Clark had a match-high eight kills for the Spartans, and middle hitters Jasmine Clark and Kendyl Todd had four kills and three kills, respectively.

"Kelsey had a great game for us," Spartans coach Ryan Summers said. "I wouldn't say I expected it, but it doesn't completely surprise me. The play of Clark, combined with Colleen setting smart and overall defense, did it for us."

The Spartans pulled away late in the first game by winning five of the final six points. An unforced error by the Grizzlies started the Spartans' surge, which included a block for point by Rosalind Byrd, a kill by Clark and a service ace by Jessica Brzozowski-Fryzel to end the game.

"I was just trying to score points," Clark said. "I didn't try to hit the hardest I could hit. When there was an opportunity, I took it."

A kill by Clark started a key stretch of the second game, during which the Spartans would win seven of nine points and grab a 14-8 lead. During that span, Todd had three putaways, including the block of a soft service return.

The Spartans put together a final run, winning seven of the final nine points, including a vicious smash by Clay that was dug so high by Schultz that it went over the support beams of the gymnasium ceiling. Clay closed the match with another cross-court kill.

"Our energy was so high," Clay said of the win. "We were so excited. We had never seen this team play, so it was the anticipation of the unknown, and we came out fired up."