Mother McAuley’s Lucy Maloney knows she plays a position that can be thankless at times.

If defensive players mess up, people notice. But the senior libero tries not to take things to heart.

“I’m not perfect, no one is perfect, we all make mistakes,” Maloney said. “The key is to bounce back. I think that mentally you need to be strong to come back and be better the next ball.

“That’s something I really had to work on.”

The Clemson-bound Maloney and her teammates will be working on bouncing back after the host Mighty Macs dropped a 17-25, 31-29, 25-17 decision to Assumption of Kentucky in Saturday’s championship match of the ASICS Challenge in Chicago.

McAuley (22-3) had match point six times in that marathon second game.

Assumption (26-4), one of the top teams in the nation accordi

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