Stately presence

Benet has what it takes to make run at title but faces tough semifinal test

Hollywood hasn't put many volleyball movies on the big screen, but when Benet and Mother McAuley meet on the big stage of Redbird Arena in the Class 4A semifinal round tonight in Normal, a script filled with intensity, emotion, suspense and anticipation will very likely write itself.

The Mighty Macs, who own a 38-2 mark, are the most storied program in the state of Illinois having won 13 state titles since the inception of the tournament in 1977.

The Redwings carry a 39-1 record to their first state finals tournament. Both schools are ranked nationally. Mother McAuley is No. 8 on Prepvolleyball.com and Benet is next at No. 9.

"We are excited to have the opportunity to play for a state championship," second-year Benet coach Brad Baker said. "The fact we are playing Mother McAuley only adds to the excitement because they are a great team. Anytime two teams with a combined record of 77-3 meet, it will be fun."

Living by the simple motto of one game at a time, the Redwings have cruised through the postseason so far. They captured the Romeoville Regional title with relative ease, taking out the hosts in the semis before downing Joliet Township in the championship. Last week, Benet claimed the Downers Grove South Sectional crown, downing the host Mustangs in the semifinal round before ousting defending-state champion and area rival Naperville Central in a three-game thriller.

On Saturday in the Normal Community West Super-Sectional, the Redwings punched their ticket to Redbird Arena with a two-game sweep of Edwardsville.

The Mighty Macs won the Homewood-Flossmoor Regional and Andrew Sectional titles before beating Lyons Township in the Shepard Super-Sectional.

"We have been waiting to play them all season," Mother McAuley coach Jen DeJarld said of Benet. "It will be a much anticipated showdown."

Power versus power. With seven NCAA Division I recruits on the roster, the Redwings have an abundance of hitters. Ariana Mankus, a West Point recruit, leads the Redwings with 322 kills. Natalie Patzin, who will play at Clemson next year, has 252 kills and 154 digs while University of Illinois recruit Jessica Jendryk collected 250 kills and 103 blocks so far.

Val Mattaliano, a Boston College signee, is a steady blocker and a strong middle hitter while junior Gina Finke adds depth to the frontline and is a top server.

"We match up very well with them," Baker said. "We play the same type of defense and have similar offensive philosophies."

Benet's hitters never would've put up the kind of numbers they did this season without Dartmouth-bound setter Brianne Hucek (739 assists) and libero Paige Vargas, who will play at Dayton.

"We either try to block people or take away a corner and have people feed the ball to Paige," Baker said after the supersectional win. "We know Paige is going to get the ball up and back to Brianne."

The Mighty Macs will counter with 6-foot, 1-inch senior Kelly Griffin (253 kills), junior Jessica Galotta (130 kills, 64 blocks) and Catherine Wildner (157 kills, 290 digs). They've won 37 of their last 38 matches and 21 straight.

Benet's lone loss came in October at the hands of Joliet Catholic, who will compete this weekend in Normal as part of the Class 3A finals field.

"We have two steps left," Mankus said. "We can't lose focus now or take our eye off the ultimate goal of winning the whole thing. We've just taken it one step at a time, focused on one match at a time; and it hasn't failed us yet, knock on wood. We just have to come in really focused and fired up (Friday)."

"The journey is not over, but we're going where we want to go," Patzin said. "We're really excited. We've worked so hard at practice and all season. I think we deserve this. We're going to keep continuing our journey and take it step by step."

"I expect it to be a very evenly matched, intense high speed game with the mentally tougher team winning out," DeJarld said.

Bring your video cameras. Friday's match will be one for the ages.