It was the best-case scenario for Saturday’s conclusion of the Louisville Invitational Volleyball Tournament (LIVT). Not necessarily for the other 22 teams who left KiVA Sports Center knowing they weren’t one of the two teams vying for the championship. But, it was great for me!

The reason to make the trek to the Bluegrass State is exactly what transpired between Assumption KY facing off with Mother McAuley IL for all the marbles. Both schools entered the two-day event with perfect marks. Assumption at 10-0. Mother McAuley at 9-0. The Mighty Macs were awarded the top seed, with the Rockets getting the second spot.

It was all set up beautifully. All they had to do was hold seed, meet in the final, settling it the only way that matters – on the court – and sending me home happy.

Where to start in Mother McAuley’s thrilling victory over Assumption in the title match? The score seems like a good start, as the Mighty Macs downed the Rockets the only way they knew how to on Day 2 – in three games, 25-19, 23-25, 25-21. Victories in the quarterfinals over Sacred Heart KY and semifinals against Mount Notre Dame OH both took going the distance for Mother McAuley, which had never finished on top before at the LIVT.

“When you play Assumption you know it’s going to be a battle,” Mother McAuley coach Jen DeJarld said. “Our kids knew this was only the second time in our history coming here that we had been in the final and had never won it. It was a battle to even get here. We had all three-game matches (today) and one last night. The road to get here was really hard. The fortitude we showed when we were down or trying to keep leads is what impressed me.”

The final was everything we love. Teams trading 3-0 and 4-0 runs like they were baseball cards. Then poof! It’s coming back the other way, both sides holding onto leads as if they were fish slipping through their hands.

“I thought that match took three or four turns,” Assumption coach Ron Kordes said. “I told the girls we can’t spot them 6-1. You can’t let people get out in front like that. I’m proud of this team though. They’ve been fighting back out of problems all year and did it again. The momentum swings and it swung a little bit too hard on the last swing.”

Before reaching the final Assumption swept duPont Manual KY then outlasted St. Ursula Academy OH in three sets to advance. The closing moments of each set of the championship was the same story. Which team could make a final push better than the other one?

In the first and third set it was Mother McAuley doing with Assumption figuring it out in between. The knockout push came late in Game 3.

Mother McAuley started the last frame quickly, grabbing a 6-1 lead before Assumption started slowly chipping away. Wouldn’t you know it, Assumption was the first side to 17, building a one-point edge for its first lead. Then bam! Ellie White got hot – more accurately even hotter as she was smoking in every match – and suddenly Mother McAuley was in control at 23-17. The lead was finally safe and so was Mother McAuley’s undefeated record.

“We’ve never been undefeated up to this point after this tournament,” DeJarld said. “We’ve always come away with one loss, even the year we were National Champions. We had one loss all season and it came from this tournament. It feels good to come out undefeated. Not that it’s ever a goal of ours but we know how hard it is at this tournament. We elevated our level another notch heading into the (Asics) Challenge in a couple of weeks.”

Will the Macs’ record still be unblemished when Assumption comes to town? That’s right. This was the first of at least two and possibly three meetings between the sides. Assumption heads to Chicago on Sept. 29 to tangle once more with Mother McAuley ahead of the Asics Challenge, hosted by the Macs on Sept. 30-Oct. 1. That gives the two programs yet another chance to encounter one another. There are five matches on Mother McAuley’s schedule until then, including meetings with Downers Grove North and Marist.

Meanwhile, the busiest stretch of the season continues in the coming week for Assumption. The Rockets head west for a showdown with Mater Dei of Santa Ana on Wednesday before traveling to Las Vegas for the Durango Fall Classic on Friday and Saturday. It’ll be Assumption’s third consecutive weekend tournament after winning the Avon Tournament two weekends ago followed by the second-place showing at the LIVT.

“We’re excited,” Kordes said. “We want them to have fun and a life-time experience but we went out there last year and probably had our worst performance ever out there. We want to have fun but we’re going for business.”