Benet, St. Charles East working out new lineups
When Benet and St. Charles East serve up the girls volleyball season tonight, it will be a rematch of last year’s Class 4A state semifinal.
A rematch, you might say, in name only.
Both teams are replacing many of the standouts who made Benet and St. Charles East two of the area’s elite programs in recent years.
St. Charles East, 35-7 last year, graduated eight seniors — seven of them playing collegiately — including four-year starter Meghan Niski. The Saints still do have an outstanding setter in Erienne Barry and Nicole Woods on the outside.
Benet, last year’s 4A champ, was hit even harder by loss. Ten seniors graduated, including All-Area performers Meghan Haggerty and Jenna Jendryk. The Redwings were further hurt when All-Area outside Maddie Haggerty, maybe the best player at her position in the state, transferred to St. Francis in the spring.
In their absence the Redwings will reload behind returning setter Hannah Kaminsky, middle Brittany Pavich and libero Sheila Doyle.
After the St. Charles East match, Benet will be in action this week at its Benet Invite with area teams including Neuqua Valley, Waubonsie Valley, York and Hinsdale Central.
It isn’t often that Benet volleyball plays the underdog card, but the shoe might fit here.
“The fact that nobody is going to expect anything out of us motivates the girls,” Benet coach Brad Baker said.
Moving on up:Timothy Christian and Immaculate Conception both bring back nice cores off successful teams from 2011. The Trojans, led by setter Jenna Lodewyk, went 35-4 last year and got all the way to a Class 2A supersectional.Both teams will need all the help they can get.Timothy Christian and Immaculate Conception, along with defending Class 2A runner-up Chicago Christian, are among the 2A volleyball teams bumped up to 3A for this year#146;s playoffs. The IHSA#146;s new enrollment initiative in volleyball was designed to divide the four classes up equally.Timothy Christian, for one, is used to competing against 3A schools in the Metro Suburban Conference, but Trojans coach Lindsey Van Schepen knows this will be a challenge.#147;It got the girls fired up,#148; Van Schepen said. #147;They know the stakes are higher.#148;Hilltoppers hoping to climb regional mountain:Football gets a lot of the attention around Glenbard West during the fall, but the girls volleyball Hilltoppers have their own high hopes this fall.Glenbard West, ranked third in the Daily Herald preseason top 20 rankings coming off a 31-6 season, gets going this week at the Wheaton North Invite.The Hilltoppers return Northwestern-bound setter Caleigh Ryan and an outstanding libero in Meg DeMaar, who grew 2 inches since last season and could see time at outside.The bitter pill of last year#146;s regional final loss to St. Charles North still lingers, though. Glenbard West was a point away in the third set, only to lose it 26-24. Glenbard West put in to host its own regional this year and seeks its first regional title since 1985.#147;We#146;ve been knocking at the door,#148; Glenbard West coach Pete Mastandrea said. #147;We need to finish.#148;Follow Joshua#146;s high school sports reports on Twitter @jwelge96.