Girls volleyball: Stasys helps power Benet back to state
Perhaps Gabby Stasys will consider drinking a Celcius energy drink more often.
The combination of intense practices, a team-focused environment and her own high-level athletic motor plays out explicitly on the court for Benet.
Add in - on a much lesser level - the Celcius she chose to drink prior to the Class 4A supersectional, and it all came together for the Redwings junior middle hitter in the grandest of ways. Wherever she was on the court, Stasys hit home and starred with eight kills and four blocks to pace Benet to a 25-19, 25-14 victory over New Trier on Friday to ensure a trip to Normal for the state tournament.
"I'm just so excited. I don't want this to be our last game. I love this team. I want to keep playing with them and get to state. I want to get to state," Stasys said. "[The seniors and all] putting in that much effort really showed me how much every single person wanted it. ... I thought the defense was amazing. We made so many good hustle plays."
Benet advanced to its ninth state tournament under coach Brad Baker and the second consecutive after placing second last year. The Redwings (38-2) will face Willowbrook at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 10, in Normal.
"We talk about: We never know who's night it's going to be," Baker said. "It can be Lynney [Tarnow] one night, Ava [Novak], Audrey [Asleson]; tonight, was Gabby. It's great to see. We really have confidence in everybody on every night."
"Gabby means a whole bunch [to this team]. She just brings a lot of fire overall," Benet junior libero Aniya Warren said. "Before the game, we drive together, she just goes: 'I'm really feeling it. I'm fired up for this game. I want it. I really want it.'"
In the first set, New Trier (29-8) built a 14-11 lead, but a kill from Stasys stopped the momentum to kick-start the 4-0 run to take the brief 15-14 Benet lead.
"We expected it to be point-for-point. We don't expect these games to be blowouts," Baker said on defensive poise in the early deficit. "We've been in lots of these situations where you get down two or three, you know, you play to 25 for a reason; not to 15. So, there's lots of times where we're in these situations and you've got to just stay calm. There's a reason we play the schedule we do because we want to be in as many as these tough matches as possible."
Later in the set, tied at 18, Benet got hot again to rip off a 6-0 run fueled by consecutive Trevians attack errors, an ace from Warren, and kills from Novak, Ellie Stiernagle and Tarnow for match point. The Trevians answered with a kill from Lily Long, but a final put-down by Sophia Chinetti ensured the 25-19 victory.
In set two, Stasys took command with two kills and two blocks to help put Benet up 12-5. Stasys had her follow-up breakout in the set with a kill-block-kill sequence to push ahead 21-12. Chinetti had a block, which was answered by Trevians senior Alison Smith's kill to make it 22-13.
A Stasys kill and Trevians attack error put the Redwings on the brink of victory. A final kill from New Trier senior Ana Vetter staved off elimination, but Chinetti's kill clinched the supersectional title.
"I think our defensive effort was unbelievable," Warren said. "We just went after everything. We didn't let any point go away [without a fight]. Anything that looked like it was dead, I feel like we just went after it and gave us our all."
New Trier last advanced to state in 2013, but has plenty of memories to lean on.
" ... More than just the wins and losses," Trevians coach Hannah Hsieh said. "It's so fun being around the girls. Their singing; their laughing. All of the team stuff we get to be a part of. It's not even just the volleyball. It's the group [overall]."