Benet Has High Expectations for Volleyball Playoffs

With an unprecedented eight players who stand 6-foot or taller, the  girls volleyball team literally towers over its opponents.

The Redwings hope to use that height in their quest to win their first state championship. That drive begins Tuesday when Benet hosts either Joliet West or Plainfield East in the playoff opener.

Benet (32-3) is the top seed at the Class 4A West Aurora Sectional and is hosting a regional for the first time.

“It’s definitely a unique situation to be as tall as we are,” Benet coach Brad Baker said. “We feel very lucky and we try to take advantage of it.”

The Redwings are so deep that they were able to beat a 23-win Carmel squad 28-26, 25-15 in the regular season finale on Thursday despite not playing four regular starters until the final point. Benet played an all-senior lineup to honor the senior class on Senior Night and the team didn’t miss a beat.

“Our senior class is so talented,” senior outside hitter Jenna Jendryk said. “Even the players that don’t usually start, they’re still talented, too.”

Of the 10 seniors, four will play Division I volleyball. That includes the 6-0 Jendryk, a Wheaton resident who is headed to Virginia Tech.

Downers Grove resident Nora Young, a 6-1 outside hitter, will play for Duquesne, while 6-3 middle hitters Gabby Pethokoukis and Meghan Haggerty have committed to Villanova and Wisconsin, respectively.

The Redwings can also call on 6-1 junior outside hitter Cara Mattaliano, 6-1 sophomore outside hitter Maddie Haggerty, 6-2 sophomore middle Brittany Pavich and 6-1 senior middle McKenzie Kuhn, so 5-11 junior setter Hannah Kaminsky, a Woodridge resident, never lacks for options.

“For us it’s a great confidence-booster because we know that we have size on people and we can use that to our advantage,” said Young, a graduate of Herrick Middle School. “Our blocking is out of this world and usually in those tight games that’s what makes or breaks us, those few blocks that we can get in crunch time.”

Benet has no glaring weaknesses and even has depth at setter, where seniors Emily Thron and Sarah-Jane Pavlik have excelled in backup roles, and on the back line, with 5-9 senior Annie Ferlmann and 5-4 junior Sheila Doyle leading in the team in digs.

“The girls are showing more confidence every day in practice,” said Baker, whose team is on a 13-game winning streak. “It’s moving out into the court. It’s nice to be able to play well against great competition.”

But the Redwings know better than to be overconfident. Benet was a No. 1 sectional seed last year but was upset by Hinsdale South in the sectional final. Second-seeded Naperville North (22-7) and No. 3 seed Naperville Central (21-13) have played tough schedules and are capable of pulling a surprise.

“Our sectional is tough,” Baker said. “All the teams that are in this area play great volleyball. [In the] supersectional we could play Edwardsville who has been nationally ranked.

“One night, [best] two out of three [sets], anything can happen. We’ve tried to make sure that we’re working hard this year so we can control our own destiny.”

The sting of last year’s defeat lingers, especially for the seniors who have one last chance.

“As much as it was really tough for the team last year, I think we can use it to our advantage this year and remember that and use it to push us through our sectional and get downstate,” Young said. “Having a team like we have, our main goal is to get downstate. That’s all we want, so we really have to take it game-by-game to make sure that the same thing that happened last year doesn’t happen this year.”

If the regular season is any indication, it won’t. The Redwings won all four tournaments they played in and are comfortable playing in big matches.

“Our tournaments are really tough and our conference is really tough [Benet tied for third in the East Suburban Catholic],” Jendryk said. “When we get into tough matches we know how to play under pressure.”

The seniors have been downstate before, albeit as spectators. They watched in 2008 as Jendryk’s sister, Jessica, now playing at Illinois, led the Redwings to the state championship game, where they were edged by St. Charles East.

“We were freshmen when that team went Downstate and I think that helps us, going Downstate and watching those girls [from] the stands,” Young said. “You really get that feeling and we talk about how much we want to have that again.”

Should the Redwings go all the way, it would be the school’s first state title in any girls sport.

“We have to keep working hard in practice and focus on every point,” Jendryk said. “[We] realize that it’s do or die.”