Benet's Jendryk finishes off Macs

NORMAL -- Illinois is going to like Jessica Jendryk.

Jendryk finished with 10 kills, six blocks and an ace, but it was her play at the net and from the service line in Game 3 of Benet’s semifinal with Mother McAuley that led the Redwings to a 25-21, 20-25, 25-21 victory and a berth in Saturday’s Class 4A championship match at 7:30 p.m.

With Game 3 tied at 14-14, the 6-foot-1 Jendryk had four blocks, a kill and back-to-back service points to ignite a 9-3 run and give Benet a 23-17 lead from which McAuley never recovered.

“I was definitely feeling it,” said Jendryk, who is committed to the Fighting Illini. “I was trying to jump as high as I could. I was trying to get every point and every touch for my back row. Every touch matters. Every point counts.”

Benet (40-1) might not have needed Jendryk’s late heroics had Mother McAuley (38-3) not mounted an amazing rally in Game 2. Trailing 12-3 and out of timeouts, the Mighty Macs closed the game on a 22-8 run to force Game 3.

"It’s a game of runs,” Benet coach Brad Baker said. “The first game was more back and forth. Then McAuley went on that run in the second game, and we were able to go on a run late in Game 3.

“I told the girls it’s not what you do when things are going easy, it’s what you do when things are going tough,” he added.

Natalie Patzin led Benet with 11 kills and Ariana Mankus had 10 kills including a kill from the back row that ended the match. Brianne Hucek added 28 assists. Kelly Griffin led McAuley with 11 kills and Desiree Aramburu added 23 assists, five kills and nine digs.

“I can’t believe we lost,” McAuley coach Jen DeJarld said. “I could not ask for any more from these girls. I could not ask them to play any harder. We had no more timeouts in Game 2 and I told the girls they were on their own. They showed a lot of heart.”