Phil Brozynski’s girls volleyball notebook

1. Marist may have fell victim to a Mother McAuley let down on Saturday? Thirty-six hours after its loss to the Mighty Macs, the RedHawks dropped its Gold division opener Saturday at the Wheaton Classic to Libertyville, 13-25, 25-18, 25-16. “We came off a great competition against McAuley and playing good volleyball in that first game (Saturday),” Marist coach Julie Popp-Hopkins said. “But you can’t lose focus. We got ourselves in a situation where we had to fight back in Game 2. Same thing in Game 3. We have to clean up our side.”

2. Saturday was also a tough day for Sandburg at Wheaton. The Eagles went 1-2 including a 25-21, 20-25, 25-23 semifinal loss to Libertyville. “We had a 12-7 lead in Game 3 and when No. 1 (6-2 middle Alex Basler) came in,” Sandburg coach David Vales said, “I looked at our bench and said, ‘Let’s see what the score is when she leaves.’ They were up 19-16. She didn’t have a ton of kills, but in that rotation they were able to execute and get confidence.”

3. After going just 5-17 last year, Trinity is off to a 13-7 start including a win over perennial power New Trier on September 6 and previously unbeaten St. Ignatius last Thursday. First-year coach Ken Uhlir’s team, which relies on speed and tenacious defense, is led by 5-10 senior middle Grace Lattner, 5-6 junior setter Tori Morrill, 5-11 sophomore middle Jovana Bulatovic, 5-9 junior rightside Dimitra Gritzanis, 5-9 sophomore outside Carly Uhlir and 5-9 junior outside Delaney Doolin.