Trojans Top Mustangs for Regional Championship

volleyball player Katherine Mahlke is only a sophomore, but her mature play Thursday night helped ensure her senior teammates’ final appearance on their home court was a successful one.

Mahlke, a 6-1 right side hitter, pounded seven of her 10 kills in the second set as the Trojans swept crosstown rival 25-17, 25-16 to capture the Class 4A Downers Grove North Regional championship.

“Katherine is my girl,” Downers North senior setter Taylor Kasal said. “I just set it and she puts it down every time, I promise you. That’s just her normal game. That’s what she always brings for us.”

The play of Mahlke gives the Trojans (22-15) a third weapon to go with Division I standouts Kasal, who had 24 assists and 11 service points, and Jessie Tulacka, a 6-1 outside hitter who led all players with 11 kills. The fact that Mahlke is left-handed is an added plus, giving defenses a look they don’t often see.

“I asked my assistant, ‘Can she really be having a better match?’” Downers North coach Mark Wasik said. “She said, ‘No, she can’t.’ As a sophomore she’s already got a lot of colleges that are contacting me for her. She’s on their watch list and you can see why. A 6-1 lefty who can jump, that’s a rare commodity.”

Mahlke said the performance was one of her better ones but was happy with how the whole team played.

“I think we played overall really good,” Mahlke said. “Taylor did a good job mixing up the sets so we all could get our kills.

“I think it was just we had so many fans and we usually don’t, so we knew we had to pick up the energy because we know South really wanted it, but we wanted it more.”

That was obvious from the start. Kasal set the tone early with some spectacular jump-serving during a 6-0 run that gave North a 7-2 lead. Kasal only had one ace but most of her serves were too hot for the Mustangs to control, resulting in passes that went over the net and right to the fists of Mahlke and Tulacka, who feasted on the easy kill opportunities.

“When you overpass to Jessie Tulacka every single time, that’s a problem,” Downers South Coach Trisha Kurth said. “We were just so inconsistent. Our serving was not as good as it’s been all season. That’s kind of how we won against them [on Sept. 7] is we served well. We didn’t serve well tonight at all, so that kills you. We missed more serves this game than I think we have all season.”

The Mustangs (17-20) made four serving errors against only one ace and as a result could never find their rhythm. The visitors scored consecutive points just six times, with their largest run being three points.

After winning the first set easily, the Trojans opened the second game with an 8-2 run, which included two more jump service points from Kasal. Mahlke followed with kills on three straight points and had five in the next 10 plays. South never got within four points after that.

North’s offense was diversified as senior middle blocker Tess Johnson had five kills and Kasal and junior middle Karissa Brazdys each had two. Junior libero Carolyn Nojiri had eight digs to lead the defensive effort on her 17^th birthday.

“I think it was a combo of our good serving and just being aware of what’s happening on the other side [that allowed] us to get the point,” Mahlke said.

Alison Dec and Olivia Zarek led the Mustangs with three kills, while setter
Danielle Conrad had 12 assists.

The Mustangs and Trojans had split a pair of regular season matches, but North has been on fire lately, winning 14 of its last 15 matches since switching to a 5-1 offense with Kasal as the lone setter.

“The Mother McAuley tournament was the first time we actually tried it and it was kind of shaky there because it was our first time,” Kasal said. “But ever since we’ve been using it I think it’s definitely helped the team and we’ve definitely improved our game.”

The second-seeded Trojans advance to Tuesday’s Whitney Young Sectional semifinals, where they will take on the host school. The sixth-seeded Dolphins, who upset No. 3 seed Hinsdale South 24-26, 25-14, 25-20 on Thursday, lost to the Trojans in the title match of the Trojan Invite last Saturday. Top-seeded Lyons will play No. 5 seed Hinsdale Central in the other semifinal.

“[Winning the regional title] means a lot to me,” Kasal said. “I was so excited for this game and there was no question we were going to win. I knew we were just a better team.”