Benet knocks off top-ranked York

Updated: August 27, 2011 5:06PM

Benet junior setter Hannah Kaminsky did not panic when her team was down match point twice to York in the third set of the Benet Invitational championship Saturday.

“I knew we would pull it out,” she said. “I knew we were going to win.”

Meghan Haggerty’s kill down 25-24 got Benet even, and her ace on the next ball broke the tie to give the hosts match point. When a York kill down the far sideline went wide, jubilation broke out on the Benet bench.

Tournament MVP Jenna Jendryk had 10 kills including seven in the third set, Meghan Haggerty added seven kills and two blocks, sophomore Maddie Haggerty added eight kills and Kaminsky dished out 29 assists as No. 5 Benet (6-0) upset top-ranked York 25-19, 22-25, 27-25.

The Redwings rallied from down 9-4 in the third set to win their fourth Benet title in five years. Last year, the hosts did not even reach the championship game and emerged from the tournament with a 4-3 record.

“This is a completely different team than last year,” Jendryk said. “We flowed well today. Everybody had a real positive attitude. The new girls played so well today.”

Kaminsky, who also had three kills and an ace in the match, is one of the new girls Benet is counting on to help it return to the state finals, where it has not been since advancing to the title game in 2008.

She is replacing last year’s setter Kaitlyn King, who took her multiple talents to Maryland.

“I have some very big shoes to fill,” Kaminsky said. “But with the team we have, they’re making it great for me. Everybody is working hard and it definitely shows on the court.”

Benet opened Game 1 on an 8-2 run and withstood a late run by York that got the Dukes within 22-19. A kill by Morgan Semmelhack gave York an 18-12 lead in Game 2, and after a rare kill by Benet libero Annie Ferlman got the hosts within 23-22, the Dukes closed the game out on kills by Caroline Rose and Melissa Deatsch.

York forced a Benet timeout by taking a 7-3 lead in Game 3, but Gabby Pethokoukis’ kill capped a 20-13 run that had the Redwings within two points of the match. However, two kills by Rose and a Benet error pulled York even at 23-all.

“The girls were mentally extra strong in the third game even when things weren’t going our way,” Benet coach Brad Baker said. “They stayed positive. It was great to be able to come back and do that.

“We’ll see them again Wednesday,” he added. “That’s high school sports. It’s fun.”

The 5-foot-7 Rose had a career-high 21 kills, Deatsch added 11 kills, Sam Schrenker had five kills and five aces and Katie Gallagher added 33 assists for York (5-1), which returns to Benet on Wednesday for a regular-season meeting.

“This is fuel for the fire on Wednesday,” Rose said. “We’ll practice hard the next two days, come back here and hopefully do better.”

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