Postseason roundup: McAuley wins 44th straight volleyball regional

The streak is up to 44.

Mother McAuley won another regional championship in girls volleyball on Oct. 31 and that brings its total up to 44 straight regional or district championships after a 25-12, 25-14 victory over Stagg to win the Class 4A Stagg Regional in Palos Hills.

Excluding the 2020 COVID-19 season, the Mighty Macs had won a postseason tournament in 45 of the 46 years the IHSA  has offered the sport.

That’s a fact that coach Jen DeJarld didn’t know even though she is the only person in school history to both play in and coach in regional championships.

DeJarld, who has coached the Mighty Macs since 2005, said it’s a testament to the tradition and history of success the program enjoyed. But she stresses that each year the players can’t rely on the past and have to earn those titles.

“It’s never easy, that’s for sure,” DeJarld said. “When we head into the state playoffs, we have to get our kids in the right mindset to handle stressful situations and pressure, especially being at McAuley.

“When you’ve been successful in the past, teams are usually gunning for you and trying to maintain that success is an added pressure that most teams don’t have to face.”

According to IHSA records, in 1977, the Mighty Macs won the inaugural state title but in 1978 and 1979 they failed to win a district title.

From 1980 through Oct. 31, the Macs have gone on to win a regional title every year as well as numerous sectionals and supersectionals. That goes along with 17 state championships, including titles in 2022 and last season.

Also in Class 4A, Marist continued to collect regional hardware with a 25-16, 25-13 victory over Oak Lawn for the RedHawks’ 10th straight title. Starting in 2004, the RedHawks won eight straight regionals but in 2012, were stopped despite a 31-5 record.

They picked things back up in 2013 racking up 10 more titles.

But for Sandburg, a big streak came to an end when Homewood-Flossmoor beat the Eagles, 25-19, 25-12 at H-F on Oct. 31. The Eagles had a streak of 19 straight seasons of capturing a regional title stopped.

In Class 2A, Chicago Christian has a nice run of seven straight after beating Catalyst Maria 25-8, 25-6 in the Knights’ own regional. Prior to missing titles in 2015 and 2016, the Knights had won eight straight.

St. Laurence and Evergreen Park both won Class 3A championships.

It was the Vikings’ fourth straight title. The Mustangs won their third title in four years.

Sectionals were scheduled to start on Nov. 5.

Running to state

Brother Rice’s Gavin O’Connor emerged as the area’s only cross country sectional champion as he won the Class 2A Metamora Sectional on Nov. 2 with a time of 14 minutes, 35.76 seconds.

The Crusaders qualified for state with a seventh-place finish at the meet, which was held at Black Partridge Park.

Crusader teammate Andrew Straley was 11th with a 15:11.54.

At the Class 3A Hinsdale Central Sectional at Legge Park, Lyons finished second to Downers Grove North (38 points) with 112 points while Sandburg took third with 130. Both qualified for the state meet.

Lyons’ Benjamin Wuggazer was the area’s top finisher with a third-place showing with a time of 14:16.62. Luke Altzman led Sandburg with an eighth-place finish at 14:32.38.

St. Laurence took the sixth and qualified for state at the Class 2A Hinsdale South Sectional, also at Legge Park. The Vikings’ Luis Flores was the top area finisher as he placed fourth with a 14:40.72.

Nazareth’s girls qualified for state, picking up the sixth spot at Hinsdale South.

Roadrunner freshman Kathleen Hardy was the top area finisher with a ninth-place showing of 17:38.24.

At Hinsdale Central, Sandburg’s Annika Trehan was the area’s top placer as she finished 28th at 18:17.81 to qualify.

At the Class 1A Lisle Sectional, Chicago Christian’s Kihra Moes was the area’s top finisher with a 12th-place finish with a 19:53.60.

The state meets are Saturday at Detweiller Park in Peoria.

Meteors advance to super

De La Salle was the lone area school to earn a sectional boys soccer title this season.

The Meteors won the Class 2A St. Laurence Sectional with a wild 4-3 double overtime win over St. Ignatius on Nov. 2 and was scheduled to face DePau Prep onl Nov. 5 at the De La Salle Supersectional. It was the Meteors’ first sectional title.

Alex Pandero had three goals and Nathan Gutierrez added one for the Meteors, including the game-winner.

There were some interesting twists and turns involving area teams in sectional play.

Morton, the No. 1 seed in the Class 3A Reavis Sectional, was shocked 3-2 by seventh-seeded Hinsdale Central on Nov. 1.

Chicago Christian lost to Manteno in the Class 1A Manteno Sectional finals on Oct. 29 in the second round of penalty kicks. The game was scoreless after regulation and two overtimes. It’s the third time the two teams played and all three times the games were tied in regulation.