Benet needs three games to beat Geneva
Come sectional time nothing is supposed to come easy, yet Benet seemed to get a big wakeup call when a 30-win Geneva squad evened things up at one game apiece.
In the first of two Class 4A sectional semifinals Tuesday in Bartlett, the top-seeded Redwings (37-1) grabbed a quick 9-3 lead in the opener over No. 4 Geneva. Benet, seeking a fourth consecutive trip to the state finals, then went ahead 12-4 and 17-10 before claiming the opener 25-17.
But the Vikings, who picked up their blocking in the second game and also got great defense all night from senior libero Kelsey Wicinski, fought back for a 25-22 victory to force a decisive third game.
Benet, however, stormed out in Game 3 with a quick 6-1 lead that grew to 16-7 and forced a Geneva timeout. From there the Redwings would not let this game, nor their playoff drive, slip away, and when senior Dana Griffin slammed down a kill on a match point, the 25-17, 22-25, 25-16 triumph advanced them to Thursday's sectional finals.
"I think Geneva played well throughout the match, but we made a lot of errors in the second game," Redwings middle hitter Rachael Fara said. "We kind of took a game off and that's not typical of Benet volleyball.
"So Game 3 we really focused on bringing that energy back and that momentum back and we took care of business."
That energy was noticeable most of the night on defense as the Redwings totaled 71 digs, including 25 from Tiffany Clark and 17 from Natalie Canulli.
Sophomore setter Sara Nielsen, who played sparingly last year for Benet's state runner-up team, is enjoying this year's playoff run and was not ready to see it end. Nielsen had 31 assists and 3 kills against the Vikings, with Griffin and sophomore Veronica Snelling combining for 21 kills in the match.
"I think it just dawned on us that it could be the end of our season if we lost and we didn't want to let that happen," the 6-foot floor leader said. "We want to spend every possible second we can with this team. So we all just really focused and executed in that Game 3."
For the Vikings, Grace Loberg led the attack with 13 kills and Jaclyn Weilandt and Ally Barrett each added 7 kills. Megan Cameron had 15 assists and 10 digs and sophomore Mikayala Lanasa added 17 assists and 5 digs.
With the win Benet earned a spot in Thursday's final against third-seeded St. Charles East, which defeated No. 2 Glenbard West in three games in Tuesday's late match.