By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
Bishop LeBlond came out on fire Thursday, taking the first two sets and serving with match point up 24-21 in the third set.
Benton, however, ended the third set on a 5-0 run, took the fourth 25-23 and were right in the thick of it in the fifth, but the Eagles (13-2) snatched one from the jaws of defeat, winning the fifth set 15-13 to take the match, 3-2, at Benton High School Thursday night.
"Benton is a really good team," LeBlond coach Kimberly Huss said. "Their hitters are really strong and they did some different things against us tonight than when we played them in the jamboree."
"I think we got out of our normal way of playing in set three and four and we had to come from behind, which isn't what we wanted to. We just need to stay focused through those sets."
LeBlond, coming off of a massive road win at East Buchanan three days prior, rolled in the first set, taking it 25-13.
Benton (7-6) was a lot more viable in the second set, but still never had a lead, and LeBlond grabbed a 2-0 lead in the match with a 25-21 win in set two.
Set three had all of the ear marks of a LeBlond sweep, but Benton reeled off a 5-0 run out of their own timeout to take the third set, 26-24.
Senior Hollie Peters and junior Andrea Simmons each had five kills in that third set to keep the match alive.
The fourth set saw Benton race out to a 12-5 lead. LeBlond rallied, but Benton survived the frame, 25-23.
Set five was back-and-forth from the get-go, but LeBlond went up 10-8 and wouldn't trail again as sophomore Rilyn Conard slammed the winning kill to the floor.
Conard was dominant throughout the match Thursday, finishing with 16 kills unofficially. Senior Maddie Sego had 17 kills, three blocks and two aces.
Sophomore Katie Sego logged nine kills, an ace and a block. Senior Lindsey Atha came through in the clutch especially late, as she tallied 15 kills, including four in the fifth set.
"It's nice to see that our team could come together and finish when they needed to," Atha said. "In the fifth set, we really showed we can play together."
Simmons was a dominant force on the outside for Benton, finishing with a match-high 21 kills. She also had three blocks.
Junior Emma Loehnig had 12 kills, three blocks and an ace. Peters added 15 kills in the effort for Benton.
LeBlond goes home Saturday to partake in the Bishop LeBlond tournament at Grace Gymnasium. That tournament field includes East Buchanan and Savannah, along with Iowa schools Glenwood and Oak Grove.
"There's probably 4-5 teams around Buchanan County that have only lost 4-5 matches," Huss said. "Volleyball is doing really well up here, and I love that, because it's been a long time coming and these teams and coaches are working really hard."
Benton will go to Lafayette on Monday.
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