Joliet Catholic defeats Benet for title
Jenna Jendryk's sunken face and soft-spoken words said it all.
By mid-Saturday afternoon, Benet was spent.
The Redwings survived a marathon Mizuno Cup semifinal match with St. Charles East before falling to repeat champion Joliet Catholic 25-16, 27-25 in the final at Great Lakes Center in Aurora.
“We were all mentally tired before the start of the final match, Jendryk said. “I think it showed. We didn't play our best game.
Jendryk was sensational against St. Charles East, throwing down 21 kills in Benet's 23-25, 25-21, 37-35 win. Four of those kills came as the Redwings faced match point for St. Charles East in Game 3. Benet turned away nine Saints match points including eight in a row starting at 24-23 after Samantha Szarmach's kill for St. Charles East. Benet missed out on two match points, before a Lara Ontko kill gave the Redwings back serve. Kaitlyn King served an ace off a Saints defender to end it.
“The St. Charles East match was absolutely fantastic, Benet coach Brad Baker said. “We'll have that in the back of our brains the rest of the season, which is good. Anytime you can play a good quality team and come out on top like that, it's good. When you're starting seeing 30s on the scoreboard it gets people's attention.
Benet (20-6) never led in Game 1 of the championship match, spotting Joliet Catholic (23-4) a quick 7-0 lead. A Jendryk kill in Game 2 started a 5-0 Benet run that included a pair of Ontko aces, pushing the Redwings ahead 13-8. The lead swelled to 23-16, but Joliet Catholic stormed back to go ahead 24-23 on a Jordan Huston block. The teams traded four points before Angels sophomore Morgan Reardon put down a kill off a Benet block for the match.
“We've had one rotation, and it happened three times today where we have allowed teams to go on long runs same rotation, Baker said. “It's a good thing and a bad thing. We know exactly what rotation it is and we know exactly what we need to work on. But we can't allow that to happen. Second game we should have won, and our girls know that.
Kelly Feigh had 10 kills in the championship for Joliet Catholic, itself fighting through an emotionally draining day outside of volleyball.
After knocking off nationally ranked Edwardsville in an 8 a.m. quarterfinal, coach Christine Scheibe's crew learned that 29-year-old history teacher and boys basketball coach Jeremy Izzo had passed away suddenly Saturday morning. The Angels came back to beat Hinsdale Central 25-22, 25-18 after being down 10-4 in Game 1, then rallied to beat top seed Benet.
“We were playing with a lot of heart and a lot of passion, Scheibe said.
With no turnaround following its long match with Benet, St. Charles East (20-7) dropped a 25-10, 25-15 decision to Hinsdale Central in the third-place match.
“We were toast we had nothing left, Saints coach Jennie Kull said. “Our players that hadn't played, they were just as emotional. And Hinsdale is an excellent team. I wish we could have given them a better match.
St. Charles East, which this week lost setter Erienne Barry to a knee injury believed to be a torn ACL, did manage to go 3-2 over the weekend, beating Belleville Althoff in Saturday's quarterfinal match. Stephanie Camper filled the void left by Barry with 35 assists against Benet. Szarmach had 14 kills and 9 digs, Meghan Niski 13 kills and 11 digs and Maisey Mulvey 12 digs in the semifinal.
“I'm really pleased, really pleased, Kull said. “Stamper has done a fantastic job coming in and running the team and everybody has stepped up. I knew that we could play this way all season; I'm glad that they're starting to play that way now.
Resurgent Hinsdale Central (18-8), who earlier in the week beat Joliet Catholic, got by Incarnate Word 25-21, 25-18 in Saturday's quarterfinal before having its nine-match win streak snapped in the semifinals. Ally Davis had 8 kills and 6 digs, Meghan McDowell 6 kills and Kataraina Milojeivc 5 kills against St. Charles East.
“The girls have been working hard in the gym, Red Devils coach Sheralynn Kellough said, “but more than that it's an attitude change and a heart change. We're a completely different team than we were a few weeks ago. We wanted to be in the finals and would have loved to beat JCA but we know now that we can compete at that level and we have that confidence.