Girls volleyball: Benet sweeps New Trier, qualifies for state for fourth straight year
Sophia Youssef entered the 2025 season never playing middle before.
The 6-foot-1 Benet junior had only ever played setter, and never even thought about playing at middle heading into her first varsity season.
But with a chance to send the Redwings to their fourth consecutive trip to state with a win the Class 4A Bartlett supersectional, she fully embraced her role as a middle gladly, by becoming a wall.
“When I go up I always want to go get a block,” Youssef said. “That’s always my goal. I don’t want to get a touch, I want to shut them down.”
Youssef posted four blocks in the game, helping the Redwings pull away in both sets Monday to secure a 25-15, 25-12 victory over New Trier to secure their spot in the Class 4A state semifinals for the fourth consecutive season.
“I love getting to play in these big games,” Youssef said. “Getting to play my best before going downstate, it’s just amazing to have, and I’m glad this one went my way.”
Youssef gave a lot of credit for her transition of positions to senior and Wisconsin commit Lynney Tarnow and Marquette commit Molly Welge, with the latter playing on her right side the majority of the night.
“It’s been so fun playing next to her, she’s a beast,” Welge said. “When it’s us blocking, there’s not a lot of people that can get through that line.”
That became more than apparent in the second set.
After taking the first set by a handy 25-15 score, the Redwings found themselves deadlocked with the Trevians early on, tying the score at 8-8 before senior Brooklynne Brass went to the service line.
By the time the Trevians put another point on the board, the Redwings found themselves up 19-9.
“I just wanted to put the ball in the best position for our team to get the point,” Brass said. “I was just happy to do whatever I could for the team and get us in the best situation.”
A lot of those points came from the excellence of the Redwings’ defense, with Brass and junior libero Claire Weathers controlling the backline for easy kills, while the frontline duo of Youssef and Welge controlled the net, grabbing three blocks during the stretch.
“As you get into a set you get used to seeing the people live when you haven’t seen them before,” Redwings coach Brad Baker said. “You know what it looks like, you know where and what they’re going to run. And our blockers just did a really nice job adjusting that second time through.”
The Redwings finished the match winning 17 of the final 21 points, with a mishandle of a kill from Brass securing the match. Brass finished with a team-high eight kills, followed closely by Welge’s six and four from Tarnow and Youssef.
“I’m really proud of this team,” Welge said. “We’ve been working really hard, and we’re ready to go all the way.”
The Redwings will move on to face Lockport in the Class 4A state semifinal at 7 p.m. Friday at CEFCU Arena in Normal. The Porters beat Oak Park River Forest 27-25, 25-22 in their supersectional matchup.
“I feel like starting off the season, there was a lot of talk about how we were going to be and all of that,” Brass said. “I just feel like this proves that we’re going to always give it our all, and we’re here for it all.”