Gigi’s House of Pizzazz: Northwestern recruit Gigi Navarrete boosts Mother McAuley to Class 4A state championship. ‘It’s an incredible feeling.’

NORMAL — Mother McAuley needed a few things to finish off its 16th state championship.

Things like power hitting, defense, setting — and it sure didn’t hurt having some positivity.

Before the third game Saturday night against Benet, senior libero Gigi Navarrete stood on the side and looked at her teammates. With her hands on her hips, she smiled and did a little shimmy.

Then she rushed the court to give each teammate a “Let’s go” high-five.

“We really had to keep it light,” Navarrete said. “It’s a game, and we’re here to have fun. We had to remind each other to have fun, and keep working it.”

The Mighty Macs had a ton of fun in the end, beating Benet 25-22, 17-25, 25-14 for the Class 4A state title at Illinois State’s Redbird Arena.

The heroes were plenty.

Navarrete, the Northwestern commit, had 20 digs for McAuley (39-3). Michigan recruit Ellie White stood above all with 20 kills and nine digs, while Ellery Rees was huge with nine kills. Mary Kate Sheehan added five kills and Olivia Klapp had 20 assists.

Gabija Staniskis led Benet (37-5) with 11 kills. Audrey Asleson dished 27 assists, while Aniya Warren made 22 digs.

Together, the Macs were Mighty.

“Our chemistry definitely got us through this,” White said. “We would not have had success without it. Every single person contributed, which was huge for us.

“It’s an incredible feeling.”

It was almost as incredible a journey as Friday night’s 25-27, 25-17, 25-20 semifinal victory over St. Charles East.

In that one, McAuley built a 9-1 lead in the first game before losing it.

In this one, McAuley fell behind 7-1 in the first game before roaring back to win it.

“We’ve dug ourselves out of a hole like that before,” White said. “I just knew we could do it. We just had to take it one point at a time, have that grit, have that fortitude.”

White needed it perhaps the most. The 5-foot-11 junior was blocked a handful of times by a front row that included the 6-4 duo of Annie Eschenbach and Lynney Tarnow.

“They were huge,” White said. “They had a big block, so I had to hit high, hit around them and hit shots. My teammates, my libero, my DS, Sam (Falk) and Gigi (Navarrete), I wouldn’t have been able to do it without them.”

White eventually found her groove and brought McAuley back. Benet led 20-19 when Tess Hayes found her groove at the service line.

The senior setter served three aces to lift the Mighty Macs into the lead and toward the win.

“That was crazy,” Hayes said. “I feel like we just had the biggest energy after coming back. Once we picked it up, we found our true selves and started playing like ourselves.”

Daily Southtown

Twice-weekly

News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday

Rees, a 6-3 junior, effectively neutralized the big boppers on the other side of the net. Her kill tied the first game at 17-17. She had another pair to put the finishing touches on the match.

And there was much more than that in between.

“Sometimes, it wasn’t going my way at the beginning and I was making mistakes, which is normal,” Rees said. “But I was listening to my coaches. They would tell me to do things. When I did them, it worked. I kept doing it and my flow just started coming.

“This is an unreal feeling. It’s something I’ve dreamed of my entire life. I’m unbelievably proud of my team and how we did it.”

Navarrete, meanwhile, locked down the defense, bouncing back from an occasionally shaky effort Friday with a superlative effort against Benet.

Her shimmy was Division I as well.

“That’s what she does best,” McAuley coach Jen DeJarld said. “Her energy is infectious. She exudes positivity. She kept everybody loose when we needed it the most.”