Marist’s girls volleyball season got off to a later start than some, not playing their first match until Thursday.

By the time the Plainfield North Invite was wrapped up on Saturday, though, Marist looked to be in peak form.

The Redhawks played their way into the Gold Bracket championship game against Lockport where the Porters got off to a hot start. Marist battled with them the rest of the way before finally taking the first set. They had little trouble in the second set as they got the sweep and the first-place plaque.

Marist (5-0) started the day by taking down Normal 23-25, 25-19, 15-11 before beating St. Charles North 25-21, 20-25, 15-12. It looked like the Redhawks would drop the first set against Lockport, dropping the first five points before winning 29-27, 25-17.

“We had a better idea of what we wanted to do defensively (in the second set) after playing out the first one,” coach Jordan Vidovic said. “We had a couple of opportunities in the first that we just didn’t capitalize on in the first game. We figured some things out to get some easier points, but the fun thing about the first weekend is finding so many different areas for improvement.”

While not flawless, of course, the Redhawks will surely prefer to learn from their issues with an undefeated record and the Plainfield North Invite championship than with a loss.

A loss is nearly what they had in the first set, though, as they fell behind 5-0 before Savanah Weathers took over. She led a 5-0 run to tie things up which turned the set into a seesaw contest. The squads traded points until a 3-0 run on kills by Bridget Ferriter and Hutsyn Timosciek of the Porters gave them a 12-9 edge,

Again, Marist battled back to tie it at 13-13 with both squads trading points to 18-18. Taylor Berg put the Redhawks up 21-18 with a few big plays but the Porters again battled back. A 22-22 draw followed by three separate match point opportunities for Lockport. The Porters couldn’t convert any of them with Marist eventually winning 29-27.

The second set was far less stressful. The Redhawks jumped out to a 4-1 lead and the game never got closer than two points the rest of the way. Marist scored the final four points of the match to get the 25-17 win and take home the Gold plaque.

“We came together (after the first set) and talked about what we had to work on,” senior Tessa Dowling said. “We put everything out there 100%. Our mindset is to always go out there and never let anything touch the ground.”

Elayna Davidson finished the championship with 11 digs and three aces, Weathers had 12 kills and Berg had seven kills. Maggie Kurpeikis (seven kills), Elise Bocanegra (eight digs) and Haven Enselman (29 assists, five digs, two blocks) all had big afternoons as well.

Weathers (35 kills, seven blocks, 25 digs) was the Tournament MVP while Cassidy Cage (25 kills, 11 blocks) and Davidson (52 digs) were named to the All-Tournament team. Kurpeikis (26 kills), Berg (15 kills, 21 digs), and Enselman (83 assists, five aces, 22 digs) all had big weekends too.

For Lockport (5-1) the weekend was far from a bust. The Porters defeated Sandburg 25-15, 25-19 before topping Benet 29-27, 18-25, 15-10. In the title game alone, Ferriter and Timosciek each had 11 kills, Natalie Bochantin contributed 24 assists Kate Nelson put up nine digs.

Still, coach Nick Mraz expressed frustration that the team was unable to close out the first set.

“It was a good day and weekend overall,” he said. “Beating a team like Benet to get here had us on a high, but I think in that first set not being able to close it out was a little defeating. It was a long day and you felt like they had all the energy. Overall, though, I’m proud of the way we fought and played today.”

As for the other brackets, Waubonsie Valley took the Crimson Bracket title with a 25-21, 26-24 win over Lincoln-Way Central, Normal Community downed Oak Park-River Forest 26-24, 25-21 in the Bronze Bracket, and the Silver Bracket was won by Lincoln-Way East 25-16, 30-28 over Riverside-Brookfield.