Benet rises to challenge

Most of the time coaches would prefer not to sweat out nail-biting games. But for Benet Academy girls volleyball coach Brad Baker, it was a pleasure to see his unbeaten team pushed a little bit.

The 13-0 Redwings completed a 5-0 title run at the Glenbard West Hilltopper Invite by knocking off Fremd 25-20, 27-25 in the championship match Saturday afternoon in Glen Ellyn. Benet did not drop a game in the tourney but did face a game point at 25-24 in the finale before winning the final three points to hold off Fremd (9-7).

"I thought our best volleyball of the day was the last five points," said Baker, whose team reached the finals with a 25-21, 25-20 victory over Geneva just prior to the title match. "We hadn't seen many pressure situations. It was good to see how they reacted."

The Vikings, who welcomed back coach Curt Pinley after a two-week trip to China to adopt a child, knocked off Glenbard East in the semis but could not contain Benet's 1-2 punch of Natalie Patzin and Ariana Mankus in the finals. Patzin had 11 kills and 5 digs in the title match, while Mankus had 9 kills, 9 digs and 4 aces.

"It seems like every day a different player steps up," Baker said. "It's nice to have so many options."

Patzin had the hot hand early on with 6 kills as Benet built a 14-11 lead in Game 1. Fremd hung tough, however, and trailed just 22-20 following a kill by Kaitlyn Pascus. The Redwings closed out the opener with a kill from Patzin and a pair of Vikings errors.

"We remain calm under pressure," said Patzin, who rifled off 5 aces in the semifinal win over Geneva. "We're working real hard, so I think we deserve it."

Fremd led 13-8 in Game 2 and later erased a 21-18 deficit to take leads of 23-22 and 25-24 before coming up just short. Strong defense from Patricia Fehr and Danielle Warner kept Fremd in the match until the very end.

"Benet's an outstanding team and obviously their record reflects that," Pinley said. "But I thought we played a fantastic game. We stayed with them the entire time and we even had some leads late."

Mankus led Benet in Game 2 with her solid all-around game.

"I'm not surprised at all," Mankus said of her team's unbeaten mark. "We have a lot of talent on this team, and under pressure situations here we were able to pass better. I think that will help us in the future."

For Geneva, the third-place match with Glenbard East allowed the Vikings to leave the tourney on a high note. A 25-19, 25-8 triumph gave them third place and upped their season record to 11-4. In the semifinal against Benet, setter Jennifer Pokorny was tough with both passing and blocking, and Megan Odenthal helped keep things close with tough serves.