Colorado commit Audrey Asleson, unbeaten Benet overpower Normal West to take Scholastic Cup title

AURORA – Audrey Asleson blocked shots Oct. 12 that a lesser setter might not, and it wasn’t hard for the Benet senior to explain why.

She practices it.

“We work on that a lot in practice,” said Asleson, a 6-foot Colorado recruit. “We have a team with a lot of depth. When we’re competing in practice, both sides are aggressive. The other side is giving us balls and we get to develop really good skills for blocking.”

Normal West, normally one of the state’s top teams, was no match for Benet. Asleson, one of Benet’s 11 Division I commits, had four of the team’s nine blocks. The unbeaten Redwings trailed just one time, the match’s first point, in a 25-12, 25-15 win in the championship of the Scholastic Cup tournament at Great Lakes Center.

Maryland recruit Brooklynne Brass had eight kills and Vermont commit Keira O’Donnell had five kills for Benet (27-0), which has dropped only one set all season. Normal West fell to 27-3 with the loss.

“It’s fun to play tough competition. It brings out the better side of us,” Asleson said. “They’re a good team, but our coaches prepared us well.”

Benet’s better side is downright scary.

The Redwings did not commit a hitting error until the 29th point of the match. A clever dump shot by Asleson started a 9-1 run to end the first set.

Asleson had four blocks and two kills in the first set. Normal West made only two hitting errors in the first set, but had little luck finding clean lanes for shots against Benet’s defense that included its setter.

“Audrey, she is really good at that. One of the reasons we are hard to score on is we don’t have a weak link blocking-wise,” Benet coach Brad Baker said. “There is no one on our team that you look and say ‘We can go there.’ We take pride in the ball not hitting the floor. It frustrates teams. You can see it on their face.”

It’s especially frustrating to face a team in Benet with not just talent but players who do things not always associated with their position.

Lynney Tarnow, Benet’s 6-foot-5 senior middle and a Wisconsin recruit, had her share of blocks and kills. She also served up aces in both sets and even took her turn setting a Brass smash for an 18-11 lead in the second set.

That was no accident.

“Our middles practice handling the ball. They practice setting our hitters. The things going on is stuff we work on,” Baker said.

Benet has had plenty of success under Baker with four state championships and four state runner-ups, including the last two to Mother McAuley. But this might be his deepest team yet.

Future Division I players at times won’t even see the floor, but it doesn’t seem to hurt Benet’s chemistry a bit. The Redwings could face Mother McAuley this week at Glenbard East’s Autumnfest in a rematch of the last two state finals.

“We say it a lot that our practices can sometimes be harder than the games. It shows that everybody is involved,” Asleson said. “There’s always room for improvement, but we try to get better each day.”

Lincoln-Way East beat Oswego 25-20, 25-23 in the third-place match. Alaina Pollard had eight kills, Tamia Maddox seven kills, Maggie Simon 18 assists and Stella Drozd 15 digs for the Griffins (23-4), who earlier beat Hinsdale Central 25-22, 25-19 and lost to Normal West 25-19, 25-21.

“It was nice to finish beating Oswego. They’re a good team, a lot of good competition in this tournament,” Lincoln-Way East coach Sean Burns said. “Happy coming in here going 4-1. Normal West is a great team. We couldn’t pass against them. If you can’t do that against good teams, you’re not going to have good results.”

Oswego lost to Benet 25-19, 25-8 in its first match, but came back to avenge its first loss of the season with a 25-19, 25-22 win over St. Charles North. Sidney Hamaker had 12 kills, Mia Jurkovic eight kills and six assists and Ava Flanigan 20 assists for the Panthers (20-3) against Lincoln-Way East.

“I thought we met the moment really well playing a team of Benet’s caliber. Hopefully we get a chance to see them again,” Oswego coach Gary Mosley said. “Those are the ones we want to see. It lets you know where you are at and let’s you know what you need to work on.”