Benet recovers, rallies past Hinsdale Central

Top-ranked Benet Academy had its backs against the wall in both games of its title match with No. 9 Hinsdale Central at Saturday's Willowbrook Invite.

But despite facing a pair of late seven-point deficits to the Red Devils, the Redwings rallied to capture a 25-23, 27-25 victory in Villa Park.

"We just had to focus on firing each other up and feeding off of each other's energy," said Benet's Ariana Mankus, who had 12 kills. "The real test is when things aren't going your way and we got tested."

Benet (5-0), which had to rally to defeat Hinsdale Central (4-3) in three games in Friday's pool play, trailed 17-10 in Saturday's opening game and was down 18-11 in the second game.

"We definitely played well late but we need to start stronger," Redwings coach Brad Baker said. "It's good to see us play well in pressure situations. We know we can come back since no deficit is too big."

In the opener, the Redwings used eight-straight service points from Paige Vargas (eight digs) to grab a 19-17 lead. Natalie Patzin (four kills) wrapped up the first game win with a kill.

Jessica Jendryk (six kills, three blocks) provided three kills to help get Benet back into game two. Brianne Hucek handed out 18 assists for the winners.

"We've practiced at being down so we knew we could do it if we took one point at a time," Jendryk said. "We learned that we can come back from anything and we can trust each other in tough situations."

The Red Devils were led by Amanda Freyn (seven kills), Mary Crofton (five kills), Lindsay Homme (five blocks), Nikki DelZenero (27 assists) and Jamie Netisingha (11 digs).

"Benet did a great job," Red Devils coach Sheralynn Kellough said. "They kept fighting and we made a few mental mistakes. But I told our girls that they should walk out of here proud of how we played."