NORMAL — There will be many Marist players who have better final statistics than Bella Bullington. The Northwestern recruit missed too much of the regular season due to an injury.
But in the biggest match of her career Saturday night, Bella was the best of them all.
And the RedHawks ruled.
Not many thought it could happen.
“Probably just our parents,” Bullington said, smiling. “But I was ready. Maddie Berry and I were actually talking about it in the morning. We woke up with a good feeling.
“We knew that kind of everybody thought the result would go a different way. It made me that much more hungry to want to prove everyone wrong.”
The senior outside hitter attacked, served and played defense for proof positive. Her teammates followed her lead as Marist beat Benet 19-25, 25-16, 25-19 to win the Class 4A state championship at CEFCU Arena.
She wasn’t alone, either. The heroes abound.
Bullington powered the RedHawks (33-9) with 16 kills, nine digs and two aces. Savanah Weathers added 10 kills, while Maggie Kurpeikis and Cassidy Cage contributed five kills apiece. Berry dished out 33 assists and Elayna Davidson made 14 digs with 17 good serve receptions.
Brooklyne Brass, a Maryland recruit along with Davidson, countered with 12 kills for Benet (40-2). Wisconsin-bound Lynney Tarnow added 10 kills. Purdue commit Aniya Warren made 18 digs.
Marist coach Jordan Vidovic has referred several times to his team making a “steady climb.”
Saturday, the RedHawks scaled the top of the mountain.
“That was an upset for the ages right there,” Vidovic said. “No questions about it. All toughness, right? You can have the biggest players. You can have a Division I-filled roster. You can do whatever you want.
“You still have to have the toughness. And that’s what we’ve brought the last couple of weeks.”
In the state championship match, it happened gradually. Benet actually dominated during much of the first game and were up 22-15 before the RedHawks rallied to make it appear closer.
That was the start, according to Berry.
“We didn’t really let the first set get to us,” she said. “We kind of washed it out and restarted ourselves. The beginning of the second set we started to lock in.”
Weathers made a block for the first point before Davidson served for three more. Weathers was not quiet during the stunning turn of events.
“I just needed to get into my groove and start swinging away,” Weathers said. “I knew we were capable of beating this team. I wanted to do my part.”
It was a 19-16 lead for Marist when Bullington went to the line and served out the second game. In the third game, it was 9-9 when Bullington put down four kills during a stretch that allowed the RedHawks to build a lead they would never relinquish.
“I felt … just adrenaline, just excitement,” Bullington said. “When I’m on the court, I want the ball to come to me no matter where I am. It’s a competitive thing. I want to help my team win as much as possible.
“We’re fully confident in who we are as a team. We know we can battle through tough stretches, and we had tough stretches in that match. It was just really awesome the way we battled, fought through it and earned it.”
There was little Benet could do about it. Not with Davidson flying around the floor, bringing up some monster hits during the best defensive night of her life.
“It feels like it because of the reward after,” Davidson said. “I just kind of went into it with the mentality of ‘fight.’ The label of our team is ‘fight.’
“I just visualized myself getting every ball up and just having that grit and that fight for my team. I knew if I did my job, my team would be good.”
Good? They were great at state.
Tony Baranek is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
