Tony Baranek’s girls volleyball notes: Mother McAuley seniors ready for final act

From the beginning to the end of the 2014 regular season, Mother McAuley has been at the top of the Southland volleyball rankings.

There’s no reason not to paint the Mighty Macs as a favorite to return to state to defend their 2013 Class 4A title.

It’s not etched in stone, though.

What is etched in stone is there will be plenty of tears falling among the Macs whether they are upset along the way or repeat as champions.

For Ryann DeJarld, Kennedy Arundel, Kelsey Clark, Carla Cahill and Maggie Scanlon, it will be a bittersweet parting.

“Oh, it’s going to be an emotional night,” Cahill said. “I’m going to miss these girls like crazy. They are my second family, and it means a lot that I get to play with them because they’re incredible players.”

The five were brought up as sophomores and played an integral role in McAuley advancing to state and finishing third.

Four of them started in their first match together, a pulse-pounding 25-23, 29-27 win over Joliet Catholic.

“I just remember that first match against Joliet Catholic with that (raucous) crowd,” DeJarld said. “We were out of our minds. They had a girl (Morgan Reardon) who went to Loyola, and it was a very important match to us. I think we used every one of those games the past three years to get where we are today.”

The next season

Mother McAuley (32-3) is the top seed in a tough Class 4A McAuley Sectional that also includes No. 2 Lyons (30-3), No. 3 Marist (27-8) and No. 4 Sandburg (30-5).

Shepard (29-6), Lemont (20-15) and Stagg are the other Southland teams among the top 10 seeds.

The other large contingent of area Class 4A teams are gathering in the T.F. South Sectional.

Lincoln-Way North (32-2) has the No. 1 seed ahead of T.F. South (25-6), Plainfield Central and Lincoln-Way East (22-13).

De La Salle (30-3) is the top seed in its sectional, ahead of York, St. Ignatius and Trinity.

In Class 3A, the area talent also is spread around.

Providence (21-14) and Joliet Catholic (19-16), which have split their two meetings, are favorites to reconvene in a regional final at Providence, with a chance to compete in the Prairie Central Sectional.

Top seeds in the other regional fields that feed into Prairie Central are Champaign Centennial, Normal and Herscher.

Longtime rivals Chicago Christian and Illiana Christian are the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds, respectively, in the Illiana Christian Sectional, with Tinley Park at No. 3.

Regional semifinals are scheduled for Tuesday, with finals Thursday.

Player of the Week

Lexi Mantas, of Stagg, is the SouthtownStar Girls Volleyball Player of the week.

Mantas, a senior outside hitter, had 15 kills in a 25-19, 25-22 win over Lockport and 12 kills in a 25-19, 25-20 victory over Joliet West.