Benet overpowers Lockport in regionals

Updated: March 22, 2011 5:12PM

Lockport coach Julia Hudson was convinced.

"We prepared very well, we were just overmatched," she said. "We knew that if we didn't serve effectively, it would be very, very hard to with all of their hitters. They controlled the tempo of the match. It was very convincing."

Jenna Jendryk had eight kills, two aces and two assists, Lara Ontko added five kills and two aces and Kaitlyn King had 19 assists as No. 5 Benet (31-6) made a few more converts with a 25-16, 25-12 victory over Lockport in the Class 4A regional championship at Downers Grove South.

"We had seen them play and we knew that they were very good at putting the ball where you're not," Benet coach Brad Baker said. "If you are not disciplined on defense, they take advantage. Our goal was to play disciplined defense and be in the right spots."

With Benet's defense thwarting Lockport's tipping game, the Redwings used a 10-2 run in Game 1 to build on a 13-12 lead. In Game 2, a Jendryk ace and a push to the corner by King that found the floor for a kill helped Benet race to a 15-7 lead.

"I thought the turning point in the match was in Game 1 when we had a great dig but did not get the free ball over," Hudson said.

Jendryk had five kills in Game 2 before Baker went to his bench liberally. Six-foot-3 junior Gabby Pethokoukis, seeing her first action in more than a month, collected a kill at 24-12 to put the finishing touches on the match.

"They put the ball in the right spots and we were getting them up," Jendryk said. "We have never had a team tip on us that much. But right now, we are connecting and playing real well as a team."

Alexis Davito (seven digs) and Rachel Mayer each had four kills for Lockport (22-15). Christina Wilson had six assists and five digs.

Grace Girardot and Alyson Farm (four kills) each had nine digs for Benet, which advances to the Romeoville sectional on Tuesday.

"We got down to a set lineup and built trust as a team," Farm said. "We know we can play off each other, we trust everybody to be in the right spot and that comfortability really helps us to pull through games like this."

© 2013 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.