Girls Volleyball: Montini makes short of Breese Mater Dei, rolls into first-ever state final

NORMAL – The traditional suburban St. Louis girls volleyball power was essentially rendered powerless by Montini Friday afternoon.

Paige Pickering opened the first semifinal of the Class 2A state tournament for Montini with three consecutive aces against seven-time state champion Breese Mater Dei.

The Knights never recovered.

Pickering, the star offensive player for the Broncos, was equally unstoppable around the net, registering a match-high 10 kills to power Montini to never-reached heights in program history.

With its resounding 25-11, 25-10 victory at Redbird Arena on the campus of Illinois State University, Montini not only extended its winning streak to 36 matches in a row but also earned its first state-title appearance.

[ Photos: Montini vs. Breese Mater Dei, Class 2A state volleyball semifinal ]

“My thoughts are you just watched the best team in the state,” Mater Dei coach Chad Rakers told assembled media members in the immediate aftermath of the Broncos’ one-sided win.

“Montini executed about as well as you could want to on a state floor.”

The Broncos will face Springfield-area 2018 state champion Pleasant Plains in Saturday’s final.

In the first set, Montini (39-1) scored 16 of the first 19 points to establish a narrative the Knights would never deconstruct.

“Getting three aces right off the bat was super exciting,” said Pickering, who will attend Cincinnati next fall. “It really helped the early momentum.”

Pickering was equally lethal after moving to the front row, recording four kills in a five-point stretch to further deflate Mater Dei (34-6).

As if the Knights did not have enough to contend with as Pickering freely roamed her spot, fellow senior and Downers Grove resident Madalyn Kasallis was another eyesore for Mater Dei.

Kasallis complemented Pickering with seven kills while also dominating the defensive interior with a match-high four blocks for points.

“The girls have been scouting Mater Dei,” said Pickering, on the schools’ second meeting in only a matter of weeks.

“We knew a faster tempo would help out.”

The Broncos’ consistency never wavered on either offense or defense as Jordan Heartherly closed out the first set with one of her four kills.

Ariana Joubert would also emerge for the Broncos, elevating her efficiency in the second set.

“We have a lot of depth in the program,” Montini second-year coach Trish Samolinski said.

The only lead Mater Dei could garner came on the first point of the second set. The only two deadlocks soon followed.

Heatherly served nine consecutive points to give Montini a comfortable 11-2 second-set lead.

Joubert made the Knights pay for their communication errors in finishing with six kills as Heatherly (12) and Haily Goetz (10) orchestrated the Montini attack with 22 combined assists.

The match ended on a Mater Dei technical violation.

“It would be much more fun if it would have been closer,” Kasallis said. ”(But) you don’t want it to be that close.”