Girls volleyball: Brooklynne Brass has fantastic debut as Benet wins Wheaton Classic title

WHEATON – They say practice makes perfect and so far this season Benet is proving them right.

A deep and loaded Redwings roster often pushes itself harder in practices than it does in matches and Benet players have a perfect record to show for it after knocking off Lincoln-Way East 25-16, 25-10 on Sept. 21 to claim the Wheaton Classic title at Wheaton Warrenville South.

The 17-0 Redwings went 3-0 on Saturday, sweeping the host Tigers, Metea Valley and a strong Griffins squad that had pushed the team to a rare three-set match earlier this season.

Junior Brooklynne Brass – one of 11 Benet players with Division I offers – had a team-high 10 kills in the championship match during her first day competing for the school. The Minooka transfer was ruled ineligible to start the season, but was reinstated by the IHSA on Sept. 20.

“I was so excited. I actually found out yesterday that I was able to play and today was my first day,” said Brass, who is committed to play for Maryland. “I feel like in practice that we compete so hard against each other that everyday feels like a competition. We have great competition with each other. I feel like it all just blends well. Our chemistry right now is amazing.”

The Griffins (10-3), who won an emotional semifinal battle with Loyola to reach the finals, took a 6-4 lead in the first set after a rare Benet hitting error. The Redwings then went on a 15-7 run to take command and played near flawless volleyball in the second set while completing the sweep.

It was a total team effort. Ellie Stiernagle and 6-foot-5 middle Lynney Tarnow each recorded back-to-back aces in the first game. The champions also threw up a big block at the net, great defense all over the floor and setter Audrey Asleson was sharp while running the attack on her way to 21 assists.

“We were really happy with our performance and how we were able to pull away, just taking it from the middle on and not really looking back,” said the Wisconsin-bound Tarnow, who had three kills and a block in the final. “We played as a team the whole time and our energy was great. We played together really well.”

For Lincoln-Way East, mistakes cost them a shot at the tourney title. Brass and her teammates were just cleaner in the match.

“No, they didn’t [make many mistakes] and we made a lot,” Lincoln-Way East coach Sean Burns said. “We made a lot of errors and got a little timid. We were hitting the ball out of bounds a ton. We tried to go high hands on them and we just weren’t hitting their hands.”

Alaina Pollard led the Griffins with five kills and Stella Drozd had 13 digs, but the runners-up just couldn’t slow the high-flying Brass.

“Their outside, No. 5, did awesome,” Burns said of Brass. “We just couldn’t stop her. They played really well and we made too many errors. They kind of took us out of our game a little bit.”

Loyola finished third in the Wheaton Classic after beating Metea Valley (16-5) in a tight 25-22, 25-23 match.

In Metea Valley’s semifinal loss earlier to the Redwings, Addison Torain and Olivia Stewart each had four kills and two blocks.

Downers Grove North placed fifth in the gold division after beating Hinsdale Central 25-17, 25-20.