Pavich comes through for Benet
Brittany Pavich was the right girl in the right place at the right time for Benet Wednesday.
She said she wasn’t nervous and sure didn’t look it.
The Redwings sophomore, in her first varsity match because of injuries to two senior middles, had 4 kills and a block in a pivotal third-set stretch as No. 2 Benet held off Neuqua Valley 25-22, 23-25, 25-19 in Lisle.
“There’s a lot of pressure because I’m just a sophomore,” Pavich said, “but I was really glad to get the chance.”
Pavich was pressed into action after Gabby Pethokoukis broke her finger in Benet’s last match, a week ago against York. Pethokoukis will miss 3-6 weeks, and Mackenzie Kuhn’s return from a sprained ankle is uncertain.
Benet coach Brad Baker knows it’s nice to have strength in numbers.
“We knew she was going to be good,” Baker said of Pavich, “we just didn’t know she was going to be good for us this quickly. Our depth is definitely a strength. We had people struggling throughout the match and we were able to get fresh bodies in.”
Benet (8-1) needed all hands on deck to fend off a spirited Neuqua challenge.
The Redwings beat Neuqua in two sets at the Benet Invite but couldn’t repeat the trick Wednesday. Down a set and trailing 18-14 in the second, Neuqua (7-5) ran off an 8-1 run capped off by a pair of Callie Huebener aces to grab a 22-19 lead. A Brooke Antenen kill gave Neuqua set point, and a Huebener kill off the block had the Wildcats ahead 4-3 in the third.
“We got a series of points together,” Neuqua coach Kelly Simon said, “and the energy level definitely went up. We expected to be right in there. Our goal wasn’t just to hang in there.”
Three consecutive Benet hitting errors had the third set tied 8-8 before the Redwings took control of the match for good with a 7-1 run. Pavich had a kill off a Neuqua overpass and 2 more kills and a block sandwiched around kills by Maddie Haggerty and Hannah Kaminsky for a 15-9 lead. Pavich’s fourth kill pushed the lead to 16-12.
“Our setter, Hannah, was feeding me really good balls,” said Pavich, also a teammate of Kaminsky’s on the Sports Performance 16 White. “I’ve been practicing with these girls so I’m comfortable with them, but obviously it’s my first varsity match. As I progress with them hopefully it will get better.”
Jenna Jendryk had 11 kills, 4 of them in the third set, and Haggerty 10. Nora Young had 6 kills and Kaminsky 35 assists. Kaminsky also redirected a kill and followed it up with an ace for match point.
“Neuqua played with a ton of energy and they were obviously more ready to go than we were,” Baker said. “We just needed to clean up our side of the ball and take care of the ball.”
Taylor McKeown had 11 kills, 5 of them in the second set, for Neuqua. Antenen added 5 kills, 13 assists and 3 blocks, Huebener 5 kills and 2 blocks and Leighanne Novak 6 kills and 3 blocks.
“I’m disappointed,” Simon said. “Obviously this was a big match and our girls came to play to win, not just to be close. I am really, really proud of them because they were so composed. At no point in the match did I see any fluctuation from that, which is something we’ve been building toward.”