Benet advances again with win vs. Naperville Central

The excellence that the Benet girls volleyball team showed Monday in its sectional semifinal victory over Naperville Central and all season is not something that comes together quickly.

"It's confidence in gaining trust in each other in practice which carries over and knowing what everyone has to do," said senior Sophie Gregus, who finished with a match-high 13 kills.

The 37-1 Redwings, seeded first in the Class 4A Bolingbrook sectional, prevailed over fourth-seeded Naperville Central 25-12, 25-17 in the first semifinal.

Benet advances to Wednesday's 6 p.m. sectional final against third-seeded Waubonsie Valley.

After Benet easily won Set 1, the Redhawks (28-9) fought back in Set 2, staying on the heels of the Redwings within one to three points. A kill by Naperville Central's Kayla Closset, who hit a team-high 8 kills, pulled her team to with one at 13-12.

However, at this time of the season, a team can't open the door wider for their opponent because more often than not, that opponent will take advantage of that.

A kill by Kyla Kenney put Benet back up 21-16. With teammate Hattie Monson serving, kills by Colleen McGuire and Ann Marie Remmes pushed Benet to 23-17 with two kills by Kenney closing out the set and securing the match win.

"We stayed confident. We kept the energy up and we made sure we continued to get into our system and set up the hitters," said Benet junior Kiara Zamar.

And the Redwings obviously realized that the 28-win Naperville Central squad wasn't going to fold.

"We remained calm. We've been in that situation before. We knew they were going to come back and we were not going to change anything," Gregus said.

A kill by the Redhawks' Kaitlyn Skowronski put her team to within 3 for the last time in Set 1.

Later, a block Remmes, two kills by Gregus and two hitting errors by Naperville Central put Benet up 21-8 and the team didn't look back.

"We executed as best we could throughout the match. Benet is a very good team," said Redhawks coach Brie Isaacson. "We had a great season."

The Redwings move on to focus on the next hurdle that has to be cleared.

"There's a lot of pressure. But it's a great team atmosphere and a lot of fun," Zamar said.