Girls volleyball: Undefeated Benet adds more talent, wins Wheaton Classic
They say practice makes perfect, and so far this season the Benet Academy volleyball team is proving them right.
A deep, loaded Redwings roster often pushes itself harder in practices than it does in matches, and they have a perfect record to show for it after knocking off Lincoln-Way East 25-16, 25-10 on Saturday to claim the 2024 Wheaton Classic title at Wheaton Warrenville South.
The 17-0 Redwings went 3-0 on Saturday, sweeping the host Tigers, Metea Valley, and then a strong Griffins squad that had pushed the team to a rare 3-set match earlier this season.
Junior Brooklynne Brass—one of 11 Benet players with Division I offers—had a team-high 10 kills in the finals in her first day of competing for the school. The Minooka transfer was ruled ineligible to start the season, but the IHSA reinstated her on Friday.
“I was so excited. I actually found out yesterday that I was able to play and today was my first day,” said the junior who is committed to play for Maryland. “I feel like in practice that we compete so hard against each other that everyday feels like a competition. We have great competition with each other. I feel like it all just blends well. Our chemistry right now is amazing.”
The 10-3 Griffins, who won an emotional semifinal battle with Loyola to reach the finals, took a 6-4 lead in game 1 following a rare Benet hitting error. But the Redwings went on a 15-7 run to take command of the opener and played near flawless volleyball in the second game while completing the sweep.
It was a total team effort as Ellie Stiernagle and 6-foot-5 middle Lynney Tarnow each recorded back-to-back aces in the first game. The champions also threw up a big block at the net, great defense all over the floor, and setter Audrey Asleson was sharp while running the attack on her way to 21 assists.
“We were really happy with our performance and how we were able to pull away, just taking it from the middle on and not really looking back,” said the Wisconsin-bound Tarnow, who had 3 kills and a block in the finals. “We played as a team the whole time and our energy was great. We played together really well.”
For Lincoln-Way East, mistakes cost them a shot at the tourney title as Brass and her teammates were just cleaner in the match.
“No, they didn’t [make many mistakes] and we made a lot,” LW-East coach Sean Burns said. “We made a lot of errors and got a little timid. We were hitting the ball out of bounds a ton. We tried to go high hands on them and we just weren’t hitting their hands.”
Alaina Pollard led the Griffins with 5 kills and Stella Drozd had 13 digs, but the runners-up just couldn’t slow the high-flying Brass.
“Their outside, No. 5, did awesome,” Burns said of Brass. “We just couldn’t stop her. They played really well and we made too many errors. They kind of took us out of our game a little bit.”
Loyola finished third in the Wheaton Classic after beating Metea Valley (16-5) in a tight, 25-22, 25-23 match. In the Mustangs’ semifinal loss earlier to the Redwings, Addison Torain and Olivia Stewart each and 4 kills and 2 blocks.
Downers Grove North placed fifth in the gold division after beating Hinsdale Central 25-17, 25-20.