Benet beats Waubonsie Valley
Lara Ontko and Benet didn't take too kindly to the service line early in Tuesday night's match.
Come Game 3, Ontko simply took over.
The Redwings senior put down 6 kills and had 3 straight crucial aces in the final game to carry Benet to a 19-25, 25-17, 25-15 over Waubonsie Valley in the Class 4A Romeoville sectional semifinal.
“Third game, state playoffs, I thought, ‘I'm just going to pound the ball,'” Ontko said, “and then I got on an ace run. It was pretty cool.”
Ontko's night got off to an inauspicious start, the serve toss on her first serve hitting an overhanging basket for an error. It was one of 11 errors the Redwings had in the first game 5 at the service line. Benet committed 5 more service errors in Game 2.
“I just felt the first game we came out really flat,” Ontko said. “First contact we couldn't serve and we couldn't pass. We all just fell out of a groove with our serves.”
She got hot at the right time, though.
Trailing 4-3 in the third, Ontko gave Benet (32-6) back serve with a tip kill for the tie. She then delivered 3 straight aces to give the No. 1 seed Redwings the lead for good. Ontko had 4 more kills later in Game 3, the last one giving Benet a commanding 19-10 lead.
“When she gets hot, she can be a force from the service line. We know that,” Benet coach Brad Baker said, “so we're extremely patient with her for what she can bring.”
Waubonsie Valley (27-11), in sectionals for the first time since 2006, used a 9-1 run in Game 1 to surge ahead 22-15. Martha Stewart had 4 of her 10 kills in the first game, including a crosscourt smash for game point. A Stewart kill gave Waubonsie, which lost three times to Benet during the regular season, a 3-2 lead in Game 2 that was its last of the game.
“I felt like we lost some of our spark in the second and third games,” Stewart said. “It wasn't really doubt. We just kind of went away from what we did well in the first game and didn't take care of the little things. We missed a couple more serves and I know personally I hit it right into their block a couple times. And our passing wasn't as strong.”
Benet junior Jenna Jendryk threw down 6 of her team-high 12 kills in the match-turning second game and had 5 more in Game 3 for good measure.
“It's nothing new,” Baker said. “We've seen it for a month and a half from her.”
Waubonsie had just as much trouble handling Benet middle Meghan Haggerty, who had 9 kills including match point and 5 blocks. Jendryk also had 4 blocks for the Redwings, who won their 12th straight match and advanced to the sectional final for the fourth straight year.
“We made some mistakes that are not typical for our team,” Baker said, “and gave them too many opportunities. But the team was able to battle through and play through those. And then in the third game we put everything together and pretty much ran away with it.”
Jill Galovic had 18 assists and Rachel Minarick 5 kills for Waubonsie.
“I don't think we ever stopped fighting. I was proud of the girls for that,” Waubonsie coach Kristen Stuart said. “I just think we were out-matched with some of their hitters. They were going over and around our block. Jendryk was unstoppable tonight. She was pretty much the difference.”