Benet stunned in final

If you weren't wearing St. Charles East orange at Redbird Arena Saturday night and said you saw this coming, you were lying.

But the Saints did it.

Starting two freshmen, a sophomore and just two seniors, St. Charles East stunned No. 1 Benet 23-25, 25-22, 25-19 to win the Class 4A girls volleyball championship in Normal.

"No one thought we could come out here and beat this team," said Saints junior Caroline Niski, who had 16 kills and 12 digs. "We knew we were the underdogs. We played like we had nothing to lose."

After Friday's Benet-Mother McAuley semifinal between two teams ranked in the top 10 nationally, the Redwings were all but anointed the title. Instead it is St. Charles East (38-4), in a "rebuilding year," hoisting the trophy for the second time in school history, first since 2001.

"When you have two freshmen starting, you don't know," St. Charles East coach Jennie Kull said, "but those freshmen came in with a lot of club experience and they felt confident. And the older kids took them right under their wings. It was their leadership that got the job done."

Benet (40-2), No. 1 from Day One this season, was denied its first state championship in a girls team sport in the school's first trip to the state volleyball tournament.

"They played great, plain and simple," Benet coach Brad Baker said of the Saints. "They deserve the credit and they deserved to win."

St. Charles East's defense against Benet's big hitters was tremendous, with 61 digs. Fifteen of those came from freshman Meghan Niski.

"Our young kids have come in and dug balls and been where they were supposed to be all season," Kull said. "My assistant Mike Bui, I have to give him so much credit. He scouted Benet and he told the girls every time where the ball was going to be."

The margin was razor-thin throughout. Benet's biggest lead was three points. St. Charles East only twice led by more than three over the first two games, at 23-19 and 24-19 in Game 2. The Saints finished that game on a Jacqui Seidel kill in the back corner that stayed just inside the back line.

Game 3 was more of the same, and Benet tied it for the final time at 16-16 on the 17th and final kill by Ariana Mankus.

But St. Charles East rolled off the next seven points. Caroline Niski started the run with a kill, followed by a Benet net violation and kills by Caroline Niski and Seidel. A four-hit Redwings error finished off the decisive stretch.

"That third game, they sided out at 75 percent. That's unbelievable," Baker said of the Saints. "They just got it done. That third game, they outplayed us. We had four or five hitting errors and two missed serves in that third game. You can't do those things against good teams. They are nationally ranked (42nd) for a reason."

Seidel had 8 kills and 13 digs, and Syracuse-bound Saints setter Laura Homann 28 digs.

Natalie Patzin had 8 kills and 12 digs, Jessica Jendryk 6 kills and Paige Vargas 18 digs for Benet. All three leave as seniors bound for Division I volleyball programs, same as middle Val Mattaliano, setter Brianne Hucek and Mankus.

"It was a great season and a great experience being here," Mankus sad. "I want to walk out of here with our heads held high. I can't help but smile. Looking back on this season, it makes me smile."

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Photo Galleries</h2> <ul class="gallery"> <li><a href="/story/?id=251233">State girls volleyball tourney images</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>