By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
Benton has certainly been here before. A match against a city rival going to five sets.
Heck, the Cardinals have now played four, five-set matches in 2022. Three of them against city rivals.
And for the third time in 2022, a five-setter ended up in the win column for Benton.
The Cardinals (17-6) dropped the first set 25-22 to Lafayette, but dominated the second 25-12, lost the third 25-22, rallied to win the fourth 27-25 and pulled away late for a 15-10 victory in the fifth against the Irish at Springer Gymnasium Monday.
"We like to wait until that fifth set when we get there to turn some stuff on," Benton coach Lauryn Doolan said. "I wish we would learn, like, 'Hey, let's get it over with a little bit quicker,' but, they know how to fight and they know how to fight for a win."
Benton's offense was slow to get going in the first set, but the Cardinals came alive in the second, with junior Hollie Peters knocking down five kills in the second set alone to help Benton knot the match at one set apiece with a 25-12 victory.
Set 3 seemed to be going Benton's way, as the Cardinals built a 20-15 lead, but Lafayette (10-10) reeled off a 7-1 run to rally and win the third 25-22. Senior middle Bailey Flanagan had four kills in that set to help give the Irish a 2-1 lead.
Benton got off to a solid start in set four, at one point leading 14-7, but Lafayette kept chipping away and fought off set point a couple of times.
The Irish tied it at 25 in the fourth set, but never got to match point, and the Cardinals scored the last two points of the fourth to win it 27-25 and force a decisive fifth.
Neither team started the fifth set on fire, as both the Cardinals and Irish traded points back-and-forth for a bit. But eventually, Benton built a 10-6 lead in the fifth and never looked back from there.
"I feel like we have a lot of experience in those type of clutch moments," said sophomore Andrea Simmons, who had four kills in the fifth set and finished Monday's match with 22 kills and a block. "It's just getting us ready for the postseason. Lots of pressure situations."
Junior Hollie Peters had 19 kills, while fellow junior Avery Morlock had nine kills and three aces.
Flanagan led Lafayette with 19 kills, two aces and a block. Senior Makenna Alden had seven kills and two aces, and senior Kendyal Bennett had four kills and four blocks on the front row for the Irish.
Benton picked up its tenth straight win Monday and the Cardinals now gear up for a busy week with senior night against Maryville on Thursday and the Benton Varsity Volleyball Invitational on Saturday.
A lot of great opportunities for continued growth and momentum. Chances for more wins, too. But, coach Doolan wouldn't mind seeing those wins being decided in fewer sets.
"I want some more growth and maturity finishing games," Doolan said. "When we're up by five or whatever, we have to put some balls down and we can't let teams back in it."
Lafayette is at Chillicothe Tuesday, home to Bishop LeBlond Thursday and will also play in the Benton tournament Saturday.
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