Boys volleyball: Resilient Benet beats Naperville North

Jack Andringa and the Benet boys volleyball team played arguably one of their best sets of the season.

"The first set, I think so," the senior said.

The second set wasn't as strong. But Andringa and the Redwings loved one thing about it: the resiliency.

"Second set, not our best play, but we showed how we can fight back as a team," Andringa said. "Even when we're not playing our best, we can pull through at the end."

Benet's spirit showed. It rallied from a set point in the second set to grab a 25-23, 26-24 win over Naperville North in Lisle.

"We were chasing them for a few points that whole second set," Andringa said. "It's really a great feeling to come back in those last few points and pull out the 'W.'"

Naperville North (7-5) made Benet's life difficult in the second set. After an ace by Benet's Tommy Kmieciak tied the set at 3, the Huskies scored the next four points as part of an 8-1 run.

"We were passing a lot better," Naperville North coach Nathan Bornancin said. "We were able to run a bit more in system. That added a really effect on our efficiency."

Benet (11-6) chipped away at the deficit and made it 12-9, but Naperville North ripped off a 4-1 run, with all 4 points coming on Redwings errors.

"I was just thinking the whole set, we were kind of playing down," Andringa said.

So Benet tried to change its mindset.

"We just refocused," senior John Folts said. "We knew we had the talent to be able to pull out the win."

They backed up their mentality. Benet scored 9 of the next 12 points and tied the match at 19 on a kill by Folts.

But Naperville North wouldn't budge. The Huskies took a 23-21 lead on a Chase Olson ace.

"We called a timeout and talked and said, 'Hey, we got to play Benet volleyball,'" Benet coach Jeff Steinberg said. "They decided that they were going to start playing smart volleyball and we made sure that we were in the right spot on defense and hitting smart shots on offense."

It worked.

Benet tied it at 23, then Connor Wojcik set up John Jaworski for a kill to give Naperville North a 24-23 lead and set point.

Benet remained calm.

"We've worked on it everyday in practice, coming back from a deficit and being able to play from behind," Folts said.

Kmieciak set up Connor Simchak for a kill to tie it, Kmieciak set up Folts for a kill and Folts hit a rally for a kill to claim the win.

"On that last point I kind of just have to put that ball down instead of just hitting it, just to make sure I was staying clean and I that I wasn't going to get any net violations," Folts said. "It was definitely an adrenaline rush those last few points."

It helped solidify a strong defensive effort from the first set.

"The first set, I thought our defense was excellent," Andringa said. "We were picking up all the tips and the roll shots. We just weren't letting anything hit the floor, we were chasing down balls. Even if our pass wasn't right on the net, we were just making the best of our situation."