Girls volleyball: Benet takes another from Neuqua Valley

If there was an official word for Thursday night's Class 4A Oswego regional final, it would be familiarity.

Benet, seeded second in the Waubonsie Valley sectional, and Neuqua, seeded seventh, faced off for the fourth time this season.

And per usual, it was a battle. The Redwings (31-6) made it a clean sweep for the season, however, winning 25-21, 27-25.

Next up for Benet is a sectional semifinal at 6:30 p.m. Monday against the host Warriors, who beat Joliet Catholic in three sets Thursday to win the Bolingbrook regional.

"We've played them four times. We know each other. There's no hiding anything," said Redwings coach Brad Baker. "Neuqua played extremely well and our kids battled back."

Neuqua coach Kelly Simon said multiple battles against Benet each season are nothing new.

"We face them four and five times most seasons. We are at their tournament and face them once or twice. They are on the regular schedule and sometimes we've faced them in two tournaments," she said. "We have a pretty good handle on them. We know their lineup and both teams have played tough each time. Benet is an amazing team."

After losing the first set the Wildcats (22-15) came out big in the second, jumping out to a 10-5 lead on a Benet serve into the net. The Redwings cooled Neuqua's momentum although the Wildcats kept their lead in the 2- to 4-point range until a Neuqua hitting error tied the set at 18 with Benet's Taylor VanEekeren serving.

Lilly Johnson, who finished with 7 kills, hit two of them while VanEekeren was serving and she added an ace. All that and another Wildcats' hitting error put Benet up 20-19.

"We knew Neuqua would keep fighting. They didn't want their season to end. I made sure I applied the right pressure (while serving), but still be safe," VanEekeren said.

The Wildcats were indeed still battling. A block by Rachel Pu and Sabrina Ni gave their team a 24-23 advantage. Soon after, with Caroline Gard serving, a kill by Valentina Tabres put Benet up 25-24. A Redwings hitting error tied the set at 25 before two Neuqua hitting errors and a block by VanEekeren secure the set win and the match.

Early on in the first set, it was pretty much point for point. Later on, Benet led by five points three times and would keep enough distance away from the Wildcats.

"We live for this. We grew up watching Benet volleyball do this for so many years," VanEekeren said. "We want to do it ourselves and capitalize on what we've done."

"I'm not ready for the season to end. This season just flew by. It was such a pleasure to coach this team," Simon said. "This team had a tremendous work ethic, chemistry and leadership."

Claire Byrne led Benet with 10 kills. Neuqua's Taylor O'Malley led the Wildcats with 7 kills.