NORMAL - When Naperville Central High School's volleyball team won the 2005 Class AA state championship, Rebecca Heath had no part in it.

A stress fracture in her back made sure of that.

"I was out that entire season," said the 5-foot-11 American University recruit. "For me as a player, that was one of the hardest things to do. This year is kind of like my redemption year. This is when I get that chance again."

Heath made sure of that Friday night with 18 kills on .536 hitting in a 25-13, 25-14 Class 4A state tournament semifinal victory over Libertyville at Redbird Arena.

No. 15-nationally ranked Naperville Central (37-4) will go for its second title in three years against 13-time state champion Chicago Mother McAuley (34-7) at 7:45 p.m. today.

No. 47-nationally ranked McAuley reached its 15th final with a 25-23, 25-19 win over St. Charles East (28-13), which will face Libertyville (34-7) in today's 6:45 p.m. third-place match.

Naperville Central-Libertyville

When Heath rotated to the back row, things got no easier for Libertyville, which watched Emily McGee, another member of the 2005 state title team, registered 10 kills to go with 12 digs.

"It's definitely a tough combination because when one goes to the back row, the next one comes up," said Naperville Central coach Brie Isaacson. "I do feel lucky to have the strong outsides that I do."

Redhawk setter Megan McMahon, a recruit of Division I Elon University, wasn't bad while dishing 26 assists to go with 10 digs. Her team limited Libertyville to just seven kills on negative .077 hitting.

"It was one of the fastest hitting teams we've see all season," said Libertyville coach Chris Trzyna.

McAuley-St. Charles East

This match will be remembered for its many long rallies, most of which went Mother McAuley's way.

"I thought we came out on top of some of those long rallies because of our defense," said Mighty Macs coach Jen DeJarld, whose team also topped St. Charles East, 25-19, 26-24, on Oct. 12. "They swung a lot harder than a month ago. They dug a lot more of our balls than last time."

St. Charles East couldn't overcome a combined 24 hitting and serving errors compared to just 14 for McAuley.

"We've been working all year on trying to have aggressive serves," said St. Charles East coach Jennifer Kull. "Obviously tonight we needed to take a little off to keep it in."

McAuley setter Melissa Joyce, a Wisconsin-Green Bay-recruit, kept her hitters in position with 15 assists and 10 digs. The Mighty Macs also got 12 digs apiece from Elizabeth Sweeney and Catherine Wildner and 10 from Michigan State-recruit Carli Weiler.

McAuley nearly let St. Charles East dig out of a 17-9 hole in the first game. The Fighting Saints forced ties at 21, 22 and 23 before a Val Zulevic kill and a hitting error allowed McAuley to escape. The Mighty Macs broke open a tight second game with a match-ending 11-4 run.

"Defensively we played really well, but it (long rallies) does get exhausting after a while," Kull said.