Benet towers over Plainfield Central

Another postseason match, another tidy victory for the Benet girls volleyball team.

The Redwings took less than 40 minutes to dispatch Plainfield Central 25-17, 25-14 to capture the Class 4A sectional championship on Thursday night at West Aurora.

This is Benet’s third sectional championship in the past four seasons.

“This was our most complete and most challenging game so far this postseason run,” Benet senior middle Meghan Haggerty said. “It definitely feels good to be able to play our best ball at this time and against them.”

The Wildcats came out and matched the Redwings through the early stages of the opening game. Plainfield Central led 11-10 at one point, but Benet (36-3) took its play to another level and never trailed the rest of the night — including at any point during the second game.

“(Plainfield Central) played strong played strong at the start,” Benet coach Brad Baker said. “We continued to play our game and we hope that people can’t play it as long as we can. They were able to do it for about 10 points and we were able to push and push and push.”

It also helped Benet to have Gabby Pethokoukis, Jenna Jendryk, Nora Young and both Maddie Haggerty and Meghan Haggerty dominate at the net.

Plainfield Central coach Jessica Clark said that her Wildcats (23-16) had no answer for Benet’s front line.

“Obviously, their huge height advantage was a factor,” said Clark, who had two 6-foot players on the roster compared to seven for Benet. “They had quite a few 6-footers at the net and we didn’t and that is what it came down to.”

Jendryk and Pethokoukis combined to score five of the second game’s first six points — four of which came via block to stake Benet to a 6-2 lead.

“We wanted to come out and sent an early message there and we did,” Jendryk said.

Benet opened its lead to 12-5, but Plainfield Central did manage to rally to within 17-12 and that caused Baker to use his only timeout of the night. The Redwings quickly responded with one of Meghan Haggerty’s 11 kills before closing out the game and the match.

The Redwings don’t have a long time to enjoy their victory as they return to action in the Class 4A supersectional at 7 p.m. Saturday at Normal Community High School. Benet will meet Edwardsville. The Redwings beat Edwardsville in 2008 on their way to a second-place finish at state. The winner of Saturday’s match advances to the state semifinals.