Boys volleyball: Benet youngsters overcome Waubonsie Valley

A devastating off-season injury to 6-foot-7 outside hitter Alex Yates forced Benet coach Amy Van Eekeren to employ more youngsters in her boys volleyball lineup than she had anticipated. Despite some ups and downs, the kids are doing OK.

Sophomore John Folts had 9 kills, veteran Ben Mazza added 8 kills and 6-foot-6 setter Jackson Van Eekeren had 23 assists as the Redwings defeated Waubonsie Valley 25-18, 25-21 in a nonconference match Thursday in Lisle.

Sophomore defensive specialist Thomas Kmieciak contributed 8 digs and 2 aces, and second-year classmates Nicholas Crnkovich and Jack Andringa each had 2 kills for Benet (8-4).

"The sophomores played on the freshman team last year," Amy Van Eekeren said. "They were very talented, but we tried to keep them together in preparation for the future. I didn't know I was going to need them this year, but they've improved quite a bit."

Consistency has been the biggest issue for the young Redwings.

"We're going to have some ups and downs throughout the year," the coach said. "But if we can weather those out, the main goal is how we play at the end. If we can play like tonight on a consistent level, this could be a very fun season."

Jackson Van Eekeren said he and veterans like Mazza, Chris Yates and Logan Ladowski are doing all they can to encourage their younger teammates.

"We're putting a lot of emphasis on our seniors supporting our younger players so they can get confident," the Hawaii recruit said. "I bring everybody in after every play and encourage them to focus on the next play. If they made a mistake, forget it and move on. Focus on the next point."

Ladowski helped facilitate Benet's offense with 17 digs.

"Ladowski covers a lot of ground and makes transition very easy for us," Amy Van Eekeren said. "He plays excellent defense. Jackson gets to a lot of balls, too. He makes it look easy. He moves very well for a 6-6 guy."

Another team that relies on youth is Waubonsie Valley. Only setter Jake Furman and outside hitter Brandon Pedersen have extensive varsity experience. But when the Warriors are in system, they can present a lot of problems for their opponents.

"Absolutely," said first-year Waubonsie Valley coach Noel Soto. "When our passes are inside the 10-foot line, we can run our system really well. If our passes are going, then our system is going and our game is going."

After dropping the first set Waubonsie Valley (5-8) raced out to a 12-7 lead in Game 2 and forced a Benet timeout. However, the Redwings responded with a 7-1 run out of the stoppage and later scored 3 unanswered points to break an 18-18 tie.

"Tonight, we got hurt on our serves," Soto said. "If we clean that up, we'll be OK. We're still developing. We're still coming together. They're still getting a feel for each other. It's where we end, not where we start. We're getting better every practice."

The Warriors were led by Furman with 10 assists and 4 kills, 6-2 junior Matt Canty with 8 kills and 6-4 junior Levi Jordan with 7 kills. Braden Israelsen added 10 assists and a kill.