Downers Grove North pushes Mother McAuley to three sets but falls short in 4A Lyons Supersectional

What was supposed to be a death watch game nearly turned into a celebration of life for Nicole Liu and her Downers Grove North teammates.After heavily favored Mother McAuley rolled to victory in the first set of Monday’s Class 4A Lyons Supersectional, many assumed the Mighty Macs would win the match in straight sets.But the Trojans had other ideas.“At the end of the first set, we really just huddled together,” Downers North junior setter Ellery Cabaj said. “Everyone was saying, ‘Let’s fire up for these next two, we’re not done in two, that’s not how our season is going to end.’“We really fired up for the second set. We knew we were right there, so everyone picked it up.”Liu, North’s star senior outside hitter, knew they would.“Especially recently in those big wins against Benet and Glenbard West, we experienced being down, whether it was within a set or a whole set,” Liu said. “So it’s definitely something we can do and it made me feel really confident knowing we’ve already done it twi