York hands Benet third defeat of the season

Patty Iverson couldn't ever recall beating Benet in her five-plus seasons at York.

Right now everything's coming up roses in Elmhurst.

Caroline Rose had 12 kills and No. 7 York added to its Week 1 hit list with a 25-18, 20-25, 25-23 win over No. 2 Benet in front of a boisterous Dukes home crowd.

York (8-0) has beaten No. 3 Hinsdale Central twice and Glenbrook South already in the season's first eight days.

"This one was probably the biggest one, especially playing at home," Rose said. "We felt that we could win this match. We've played some big matches before so we were ready for the challenge."

York appeared well in command of the third set, leading 24-19 after a Rose kill and Benet hitting error. But Meghan Haggerty and Alyson Farm kills sandwiched around two York errors to allow the Redwings to climb within 24-23.

Benet (4-3), ranked seventh in the country by PrepVolleyball.com, didn't lose its third match unti late October the past two seasons.

Similar to their previous losses to St. Charles East and Hinsdale Central, the Redwings dug themselves early deficits, trailing 15-7 in the first set that featured 11 Benet errors and 11-6 in the second. Benet's first lead of the match didn't come until a Kaitlyn King ace made it 18-17 in the second set.

A Haggerty kill and Jenna Jendryk ace did finish off a strong comeback in that set, but that carryover couldn't sustain itself in the third.

"That's why it's frustrating, because we definitely had opportunities," Benet coach Brad Baker said. "From one game to the second to the third we made a lot of adjustments. The first game wasn't very close. The girls got kicked in the face and they came back strong, which was good to see that fire."

Rose, an explosive hitter at just 5-foot-6, set the tone for the match early with 4 kills in the first set as Benet had difficulty putting up a block.

"We came out swinging hard," Rose said. "We knew we had to put the pressure on them."

"Our blockers were not making the adjustments that we wanted them to make," Baker said. "We know we need to work on that and it's an area we will."

Sophomore Melissa Deatsch had 9 kills in the match, 6 coming in the second set. Sam Schrenker had 3 blocks and 6 kills, her fifth kill of the match giving York the lead for good at 20-19 in the third.

"It's more than just beating Benet, as good as Benet is this year," Iverson said. "It's tough enough for us to play Benet every year. It's getting the monkey off our back. This is a good win for us."

Haggerty had 11 kills for Benet, and a Haggerty kill tied the third set at 19-19. Lara Ontko had 7 kills and 7 digs.

"It's good to know the things you need to work on, and we've gotten better each week," Baker said. "It's frustrating right now because we're not winning, but what we see the small things that are improving. That's what we need to continue to do."