N. Stars fall to No. 1 Benet

Ranked No. 1 in the Daily Herald coverage area and No. 5 in the nation by ESPN, Benet's volleyball team is used to getting its opponent's best shot.

St. Charles North felt it missed its opportunity Tuesday night in St. Charles.

The Redwings rolled over the North Stars 25-12, 25-10 in about 45 minutes. Benet scored the first five points and never looked back.

"We came out energerized and we played to our level," said Benet's 6-foot-1, Illinois-bound senior Jessica Jendryk.

The Redwings certainly made an impression on St. Charles North coach Lindsay Trudell.

"Benet is a pretty well-rounded team and in my opinion will be a contender for the state championship. I firmly believe that."

Just as firmly as Trudell believed her team didn't play to its potential.

"No, certainly not," Trudell said. "I know we are capable of playing much better than that. I am waiting to see it because we practice a lot harder than we play. We serve to each other in practice as tough as Benet did."

Benet (7-0) has only been pushed to three games once, by Hinsdale Central. They never trailed Tuesday, with just two ties early in Game 2.

"We've just focused on our next match," Benet coach Brad Baker said. "We're not focused on what or national ranking is. The teams we play so far have been extremely fired up to play us. We know there's a bull's-eye on our back. To us that's good."

Libero Paige Vargas started the match with an ace while serving the first five points.

Jendryk pounded 4 kills in Game 1 on sets from Brianne Hucek.

"I can trust her to put the ball away," Hucek said. "She's definitely been good for us. We played all right but we definitely can improve."

Game 2 played out much like the first, with Trudell going to her bench early trying to find a combination that clicked. The North Stars forged the only two ties at 1-1 and 2-2 before Ariana Mankus's seven-point service run opened up a 9-3 lead.

"We started strong and continued to play," Baker said. "I thought we communicated well the entire match."

Allie Van Dril paced the North Stars with 5 kills.

"We knew it was going to be a challenge but we wanted to step up and meet their level and really work hard to show what we have," Van Dril said. "It didn't quite work out like we planned."

The North Stars (4-4) will try to get back on track Thursday night in their Upstate Eight Conference opener against Neuqua Valley.

"We're not executing simple things," Trudell said. "I don't know what happens between the comfort of a practice and the severity of a game but we just really break down."