WHEATON -- At a point in the season when the stakes climb and the competition stiffens, Annemarie Hickey continues to do her thing on the volleyball court.
She makes everything look easy.
Hickey, a 5-foot-9 senior outside hitter, racked up seven of her match-high 13 kills in the first game of Joliet Catholic Academy's 25-15, 25-16 victory over Rosary in a semifinal match in the Class 3A Wheaton St. Francis Sectional on Tuesday night at St. Francis' Spyglass Athletic Center.
The victory pushed the Angels (37-1) into a 7 p.m. sectional final showdown on Thursday against the host Spartans with a standing-room-only crowd expected to turn out for a matchup between the state's two top-ranked teams. Wheaton St. Francis defeated Lemont 25-16, 25-14 to boost its record to 35-2.
JCA is looking to win its fifth straight sectional championship and its sixth sectional title in the last seven years. Wheaton St. Francis (36-2) is looking to avenge a 25-23, 25-27, 25-21 loss to the Angels at the Oswego Supersectional last year.
Hickey will have something to say on both counts.
She picked apart Rosary with an all-around display of her talents. She blasted two kill shots off Rosary players in the early going of a business-like performance by JCA that kept the Angels on track to defend their 3A state crown. Then, after she backed up the Royals' defense with a show of power, she turned to a bit of finesse. She tipped and rolled shots into open areas, scoring with her off-speed stuff, too.
If that wasn't enough, Hickey also topped JCA with 13 digs. On defense, she put a hand on almost every ball, refusing to let anything drop to the floor.
"I could pretty much tell in warmups tonight that she was on," JCA coach Christine Scheibe said. "And when she has a good warmup, she just rolls. She sees the floor so well. When she had the opportunity to swing away, she did. But, when she saw the opening, she also took that, and that's a sign of how smart a player she is."
Hickey said the Angels were excited to get on the floor and get on with the job at hand. Claire Randich's service ace put Rosary behind 5-1 before the Royals knew what hit them.
"Yeah, we came out really excited," Hickey said. "I think that was one of our biggest things. But, then, we may have been a little too excited. We lost our focus for a minute or two there. But we came back and played hard. And that's what we wanted to do."
Rosary (19-19) pulled into a 7-7 deadlock on Amelia Wegman's service ace. JCA closed out Game 1 with an 18-7 scoring run, Hickey's tip kill dropping for game point.
"Some people tell me I can see the floor really well. That's one of the strongest aspects of my game. Jenn just sets me," Hickey said of teammate Jenn Murphy. "And it's like, 'Just go out there and bang it.' So, I do.
"And, then, when I see that they're so far back, I just roll it. It's one of my strategies. We think we're a really good team. We could win another state championship. But it's a matter of us going out and playing our hardest and not overlooking any team.
"But, at the same time, we have to keep our focus on what's on our side of the court."
In Game 2, JCA built a 6-2 lead. Rosary closed within 9-7 on Lindsay Juriga's kill.
Then, the Angels delivered another one of their knockout blows, this time in the form of a 16-9 run. Lainey Wyman, a 6-2 junior middle hitter, had two of her four kills in the closing run. Randich finished with 4 blocks.
Murphy had 22 assists and Stephanie Keca had 8 digs.
"We definitely have a lot of really good chemistry together," Randich said. "And, tonight, our whole team felt like we were on. Just stepping into this game, we had a lot of energy. And, I think, when we have a lot of energy, we come out, we play together and we make it look easy."
Randich was promoted to the varsity ranks two years ago and cut her teeth for the Angels in a match against St. Francis in front of a big crowd on their own floor. She is looking forward to reliving that moment -- and rewriting a bit of her own history -- on Thursday.
"It definitely helps a lot," she said of playing in the Spartans' gym before. "It helps with my nerves. I wasn't too nervous to come out here and play. I've been in this environment. It was definitely nerve-wracking when I was a sophomore and this was a supersectional (match).
"But they weren't looking to me to make a big difference on the court back then. And, so now, it's a little different situation. I'm looked at as a leader. I felt a little more confident this time around."
Neither JCA nor Wheaton St. Francis has lost a match since playing at the Asics Challenge in early October. The tournament featured a handful of nationally ranked teams from around the country. JCA finished second and St. Francis placed seventh.
The two teams are left to do some tweaking before they face off again.
"There are a few things I want to work on in practice tomorrow -- a couple of things I saw," Scheibe said. "But, overall, I'm pleased. We have played them in their gym. It's just another game.
"It's another team we have to play. And we're going to approach it like we have every other match this season, just go out and play our best."
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