Tessa Dowling has been on two Marist volleyball teams that won Class 4A state championships.
But the Coastal Carolina lacrosse recruit is also going to have fond memories of helping the RedHawks win the school’s first girls lacrosse state trophy.
Marist (16-8) finished fourth in the state after falling 17-6 to York on June 4 and 10-7 to Barrington June 6 at Hinsdale Central.
“I feel like I had more joy winning the sectional and supersectional in lacrosse than I did for volleyball,” Dowling said. “We worked so hard as a team and it really showed.
“We had a rough season at the beginning. But we made sure we were there for each other and our dedication really turned us around. We had a sisterhood and a family.”
Dowling scored the RedHawks’ first two goals in the semifinals as Marist tied York 3-3 after one quarter. But the Dukes dominated the rest of the way.
Dowling had three goals, Isabel Colon added two and Grace Harmon one. Erin O’Neill had two assists and Reagan McQuaid contributed one.
In the Barrington loss, McQuaid and Colon each had three goals and O’Neill added one.
Dowling is the twin sister of Emmett Dowling, who quarterbacked Mount Carmel to the Class 8A football title last fall.
Stagg hires
Stagg has hired two head coaches: Jeff Kastel for boys wrestling and Erin Moran for girls volleyball.
Kastel earned NCAA Division III All-American honors at Emhurst. He has recently been an assistant wrestling coach at Stagg.
Moran has competed and coached at First Alliance Volleyball clubs and has coached at Sandburg.
Another Golden Shoe for Crane
St. Xavier senior outfielder Fiona Crane, an Evergreen Park native and Mother McAuley grad, earned her second straight Golden Shoe Award for leading the NAIA in stolen bases.
Crane swiped an NAIA-record 95 bases in 2026 after winning the award with 71 in 2025.
Crane and teammates Haley Matlock, Mallory O’Connor and Aubrey Wroble were named National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-Americans.
Perfect Hounds ready for semis
The Chicago Hounds became the first Major League Rugby team to run the table, finishing the regular season June 7 with a 35-19 road win over two-time defending champion New England. Tiaan Loots had two tries for the Hounds (10-0).
Chicago opens the postseason at 7 p.m. June 15, hosting Old Glory in the semifinals at SeatGeek Stadium.
Bashing Bolts
The first few days of June have been wild for the Windy City Thunderbolts.
After beating the Florence Y’alls 12-1 on the road on June 2 and losing to them 13-12 and 20-19 the next two days, the Bolts traveled to Joliet to beat the Slammers 19-18 on June 5.
Things returned to normal scorewise on June 6 with a 2-1, rain-shortened loss to Joliet.
Fire II falls on road
The Chicago Fire II dropped a 3-0 MLS NEXT Pro road game against Atlanta 2 on June 7 in Athens, Georgia.
The Fire (3-5-4) hosts Inter Miami II at 3 p.m, June 14 at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview.