Safranek leads Downers South past Benet

Downers Grove South had all the right answers against Benet, and one of them was Kelsey Safranek.

The 6-foot-1 junior right-side hitter delivered 7 kills and 2 blocks to lead a team effort for the Mustangs, who handled Benet 25-19, 25-22 in a nonconference girls volleyball match Monday night in Downers Grove.

"I try to be an outlet for when we're in trouble," Safranek said. "I like to be there to get the ball down."

"Kelsey is really getting hot and it's really a good time for that to happen," said Downers South coach Colleen Reagan. "She's starting to come into her own."

Downers South (15-4) made a move in the middle of each game to take the lead, then managed to keep Benet (15-2) at bay the rest of the way with its aggressiveness and defense.

The Mustangs used a pair of 5-point runs in the first game, the first one vaulting them ahead 11-9 thanks in part to Colleen Dobry's pair of aces and the second making it 18-12 after back-to-back errors by the Redwings.

Game point saw Courtney Gosewisch and Emily Toth make digs for the home team before Safranek reeled off a kill.

In Game 2, Benet moved into a tie at 14-14 after a Jessica Jendryk came up with a kill and a block on consecutive plays.

But Downers South scored the next 3 points, the start of a 6-1 run that produced a 20-15 advantage for the Mustangs.

"I think defensively they were better," said Benet coach Brad Baker. "We were digging balls and giving them overpasses where they were digging balls and keeping them on their side of the net. And when we did get overpasses, they were still digging those."

Gosewisch came up with a match-high 10 digs, while teammates Toth and Christine Bowe contributed 8 and 7, respectively.

"We worked really hard last week on our defense and being aggressive, and that was hitting the ball as hard as we can and blocking as hard as we can," Reagan said. "I want teams to be afraid to overpass to us or to even give us the ball. Certainly I think our kids did a nice job of that tonight.

Toth and Bowe recorded 6 kills apiece, while Mo Oestermeyer and Jessica McNellis each registered 4.

For Benet, Jendryk finished with 7 kills, 2 aces and 1 block. Ariana Mankus downed 7 kills and Natalie Patzin landed 6.