Girls Volleyball: Ava Falduto leads IC Catholic past Chicago Christian, into Class 2A state semifinals

ELMHURST – IC Catholic Prep star Ava Falduto played like her normal self Nov. 4.

The Penn State-bound junior outside hitter stuffed the stat sheet with 18 kills and nine digs against Chicago Christian at the Class 2A IC Catholic Supersectional.

She did it all on an empty stomach.

“Yesterday I got food poisoning, but we are back,” Falduto said. “I hydrated a lot and I knew I needed to do what my team needed me to do today and that was show up.”

Falduto showed up at school to attend the second half of her classes in order to maintain eligibility, but she wasn’t thinking of her stomach by the time game time rolled around.

The stomach woes were a thing of the past by the end of the match, which the host Knights won 25-15, 25-22 to advance to the state finals for the first time since 2013.

IC Catholic Prep (32-1) will play Freeburg (33-7) at 1:30 p.m. Friday in the state semifinals at Redbird Arena in Normal.

“I’m not even thinking about [my stomach],” Falduto said. “I feel great.

“I mean, we’re going to state. It’s the best feeling ever.”

Falduto came out firing, spiking four consecutive kills and seven overall during an opening 15-5 run. Junior setter Lucy Russ, who had four kills, five service points, three aces and 23 assists, wisely kept feeding Falduto.

“When we started going on a roll, I knew Ava was in the right mindset,” Russ said. “I knew she was here and wanted to play.

“I trust Ava as a hitter. When she’s on fire, I set her because she’s very consistent and I know she’ll put the ball down.”

Russ said she knew the Knights were going to win after that good start. So did IC Catholic Prep coach Nancy Kerrigan and not only because Falduto was lighting up the Chicago Christian defense from all angles.

“We executed the game plan very well, so that’s a tribute to all of them, from the defense to the offense,” Kerrigan said. “Some of the hitters might not have gotten the ball that often, but they did what they were supposed to do.”

Falduto did her part again in the second set, landing five straight kills as part of an opening 7-3 run.

This time, Chicago Christian (31-9) put up a better fight, rallying to tie it 10-10 on an ace by Nikki Swiney.

But Swiney served the next ball long and Russ responded with an ace as the Knights went ahead to stay.

Chicago Christian twice got to within two points after that, the last at 24-22 on a kill by Delanie Grevengoed, but on the next play, Russ fed Falduto for a monster kill up the middle to clinch it.

“They’ve played like that all season,” Kerrigan said. “Every time they’ve faced a big showdown, they just step up to the plate and do their thing.

“They don’t get rattled by much, so I knew that was going to serve them well tonight.”

Now the Knights are two wins away from the program’s fourth state championship. Few are betting against them.

“They’re a great team,” Chicago Christian coach Troy Grevengoed said. “They’re as deserving as anybody. I’m sure they’ll do well.”