These three teams just returned from Las Vegas and are now in Chicago playing in the Nike Challenge.

 

Friday action had Assumption winning its pool moving on to the championship bracket while NDA and Sacred Heart took second in their repspective pools to move on to the Silver Bracket action today.

 

Can't imagine traveling all day and playing three matches in an evening of pool play but it is what it is.

 

Good luck to all three teams on Saturday, If Sacred Heart and NDA win a few games they could meet in that brackets final.

 

Pool play scores and brackets are here:

http://www.mothermcauley.org/athletics12/ASICS_friday.pdf

Chicago article mostly on the Sacred Heart loss on Friday:

 

Sandburg didn’t have a whole lot going for it during the early stages of Friday night’s Asics Challenge match against Sacred Heart, Ky, trailing 20-7 in Game 1.

Come back against the 25th-ranked team in the nation? Yeah, right.

Yep. The Eagles did.

With Dakota Hampton spiking strong and Dristy Theisen amd Kelly Finlay standing tall at the net, the Eagles rallied to within 23-21.

They lost the first game 25-21. But they had something that Sacred Heart didn’t.

“Momentum. More momentum for the next two games. And look what happened,” Hampton said after Sandburg’s stunning 21-25, 26-24, 25-20 victory that launched the Eagles into Saturday’s third-round match against No. 1 Mother McAuley.

Hampton’s 12 kills and 14 digs were the biggest numbers for the No. 2 Eagles, who improved to 18-3. But Theisen (11 blocks), Finlay (7 blocks) and Kendall Reichman (14 digs) were equally key in frustrating Sacred Heart’s powerful swingers.

“Our defense was so on,” Hampton said. “Our blocking was just clicking. It was unbelievable. (Sacred Heart) has a very good team. I’m just so proud of my teammates. They all stepped up.”

A back-and-forth Game 2 saw the two teams battle it out to 24-24, before Theisen went back-to-back with blocks to clinch it for Sandburg. It was 20-all in Game 3 when Meghan Hutchinson snapped the tie with a kill, Hampton put another one down, and Theisen again blocked a shot back into a Sacred Heart hitter.

Sandburg also went three games in its first match, surviving Downers Grove North 25-19, 17-25, 25-18.

Hampton was again the stat leader for the Eagles with 12 kills and 11 digs, while Kristen Bailey and Theisen had five each. Reichman (17 digs) topped the defensive effort, while Kara Kentner added 25 assists and four kills.

 

 

Mother McAuley, meanwhile, swept its two matches, but not until the Mighty Macs got off to a slow start against Nazareth.

Dropping the first game 25-23, they had to rally to take Games 2 and 3 by scores of 25-16, 25-14.

“I think we were just coming off of a high (beating Berkeley Prep (Fla.) from the previous night,” sophomore middle Gabrielle Ennis said. “All of us were just overthinking. We just needed to play our game.”

Lizzy Scanlon led the way for McAuley with 10 kills and 10 digs, while Lauren Grady (9 kills), Sydney McPhillips (7 kills), Bridget Powell (14 digs, 4 blocks) and Courtney Joyce (38 assists, 6 kills, 6 digs) also contributed.

The Mighty Macs then faced Martin County (Fla.) and one of the strongest hitters in the nation in Florida State-bound Nicole Walch.

Walch pounded out 13 kills, but McAuley’s balanced offense prevailed 25-21, 25-19.

Scanlon (5 kills), Ennis (4 kills) and McPhillips (4 kills) were all successful setting targets for Joyce (16 assists), while Powell (9 digs) and Jackie Aird (8 digs) paced the defense.

The win came on the heels of Thursday’s non-tournament 25-21, 25-22 upset victory over Berkeley Prep (Fla.), which entered the invitational as the No. 4-ranked team in the nation.

“We just approached it like any other match,” Ennis said. “We came out as strong as we possibly could, and we trusted everyone on the team. We played probably one of our best matches.”

Ennis, who played on the JV squad as a freshman, also contributed four blocks in the win over Martin. She also had five kills and four for the victorious Mighty Macs in the championship match at the Rich East Invitational a week earlier.

“I think I’m finally adjusting to the speed,” Ennis said. “It’s a lot different from JV. I think I’m finally getting it.”

 

No. 3 Marist (20-2), also won both of its matches Friday, defeating Crystal Lake South 23-25, 25-15, 25-7 and Notre Dame (Ky.) 25-15, 25-18.

 

Stagg (10-11) lost to defending tournament champion Cary Grove 25-22, 25-11 and Newport Beach (Calif.) 25-11, 25-10.

Assumption wins another big National tournament. Quite a team for sure!

 

http://www.mothermcauley.org/athletics12/ASICSsaturday.pdf