Maeve McNamara was so excited.
She couldn’t wait to shout it out to the world.
“We made history!” she yelled.
The St. Laurence senior opposite hitters and her teammates were pumped up after winning the Spartan Classic on Sept. 21 by beating Lincoln-Way West 25-23, 25-14 in Oak Lawn.
The Vikings have won regional and sectional championships, but had never won a regular-season tournament in program history.
“Every time we play in this tournament, we come close but fall a little bit short,” McNamara said. “This is the first year that we actually all came together and executed.”
The Vikings (16-4) beat Shepard, Bremen, Riverside-Brookfield and Providence to reach the championship game. They did not drop a set in the tournament.
The week started rough for St. Laurence with a 25-23, 25-9 loss to Mother McAuley on Sept. 17, but the Vikings recovered to beat Hinsdale South two days later and then went on the hot streak at Oak Lawn.
“The day after at practice – I have to give coach Yop [Eileen Yopchick] a shoutout – she encouraged us and told us that things like that are going to happen,” senior Kayla Birmingham said of recovering from the McAuley loss. “She told us the most important thing is that we have to bounce back from it.
“This has been such a crucial tournament. This was our true shot this year. And that’s exactly what we did.”
Birmingham had 13 kills, five digs and three aces in the title match. She was named MVP of the tournament.
Area players making the all-tournament team were Evergreen Park’s Neve Hayes, Oak Lawn’s Hailey Wierzgac, Riverside-Brookfield’s Sofia Owens and Shepard’s Madison Scapardine.
St. Laurence’s Kayla Birmingham was named MVP of the Spartan Classic Tournament. Photo by Jeff Vorva
Marathon matches
Sandburg took third place in the Silver Division of the Wheaton Classic on Sept. 18 and Sept. 21 and three of the Eagles’ five matches went a full three games including a 25-21, 13-25, 25-21 victory over Wheaton North to take third.
Lyons took second in the Silver, beating Sanburg in the semifinals, 26-24, 26-24, and losing to Lemont, 25-10, 19-25, 25-23, in the title match.
Taylor Carroll of Lyons and Bella Maras of Sandburg were named to the all-tournament team.
McAuley v. Marist set
One of the top volleyball rivalries in the area — and the state — takes place at 5 p.m. on Thursday when Mother McAuley visits Marist.
McAuley, the two-time defending Class 4A state champion, entered this week with a 13-2 record, with losses coming to St. Ursula Academy of Cincinnati and Assumption out of Louisville.
Marist played in Las Vegas over the weekend, taking on some national powers and finishing in 11th place in the 64-team Durango Fall Classic tournament.
The RedHawks won their pool with a 3-0 mark but lost to eventual tournament champion Mater Dei (Santa Ana, California), 24-26, 25-13, 25-19, in the opening playoff round.