Benet delivers a reminder to Lake Park

The Lake Park boys volleyball team has to remember to stay confident but not take anything for granted.

The Lancers (27-7) got a jolt of reality at Senior Night on Thursday when visiting Benet jumped out to a 6-0 lead.

But the Lancers kept their composure, fought back and won going away 25-16, 25-12.

Now the Lancers have to bring that same cool consistency and focus to the playoffs; they start regional play Tuesday as the No. 1 seed in the St. Charles East sectional.

"We don't want to take anything for granted," said senior Pat Proctor, who led the Lancers with 9 kills. "We had that problem a little this season, but we ended the season well and we feel good going into the playoffs."

After the slow start against Benet, Lake Park rallied to take the lead at 8-7 and, though they were tied twice at 12 and 13, they never trailed again.

"That start was a little surprising," Proctor said. "But the coach called time out and we just relaxed and started passing better. We never lost our confidence. We're always confident no matter what's happening."

The Lancers dominated the rest of Game 1 closing with a 12-3 run, and then they took early control of the second game.

Setter Matt McCown found a variety of hitters, often connecting with seniors Proctor, as well as Mike Kreiser and Matej Mitev, who had 6 kills apiece in the match.

"The setter was trying to give the seniors the ball a little more tonight, which was understandable," said Lake Park coach Brad Baker.

Baker was pleased with the team's effort as the Lancers ended the regular season on a seven-match winning streak that included five wins and the championship of last weekend's Fremd Invitational, plus a win Tuesday that gave them a share of the Upstate Eight Conference title.

"We played well in all aspects of the game tonight," Baker said. "We were able to serve-receive, which gave us a variety of options on offense. And we have lot of guys who can put the ball away. When we have options it's tough to play us."

For Benet (16-18), which begins tournament play Monday against Montini, it was an inconsistent performance.

"I thought we would feed off that good start," said Benet coach Amy Van Eekeren. "And we were still very much in the game when we were behind 16-14. But then communications broke down and we weren't moving as well to the ball."

The coach believes the Redwings, who are a young team with only three seniors, should be playing more consistent volleyball at this point of the season.

"I know the ability and the potential are there," Van Eekeren said. "We've seen it a lot this year. The problem is sustaining it."

Luke Ladowski led the Redwings with 4 kills and a block. Joe Berg had 8 digs.