Boys Volleyball: Behind Princeton recruit Aiden Benson, St. Francis poised for state title run

St. Francis volleyball star Aiden Benson was a quick study.

While nearly every high school student takes progressively harder courses, Benson flipped the script, opting to get some of the most difficult subjects out of the way early.

“I kind of front-loaded my school, so I took a lot freshman and sophomore year,” Benson said. “I knew that once I was getting more into volleyball, I’d have an easier schedule my junior and senior years.

“I doubled up on science classes, so I took chemistry and physics freshman year. That was not fun.”

Fellow senior Kevin Schuele can attest to that.

“He was not the happiest guy in the world freshman year,” Schuele said.

But the unorthodox strategy paid off for Benson individually and the Spartans as a team. Benson, a 6-foot-7 middle hitter, has teamed with Schuele, the McKendree-bound setter, and outside hitter K.J. Glab, a Purdue Fort Wayne recruit, to propel the top-ranked Spartans into state-title contention.

The well-rounded Benson will continue his career at Princeton. He said his academic strategy was worth it.

“It was a lot,” Benson said. “I was able to manage it.

“The school has been great with it. I appreciate what the teachers have done.”

Indeed, the teachers must have done something right. Benson graduated with a weighted 4.9 GPA on a 4.0 scale, which wasn’t even the highest on the team.

“We had a crazy senior class,” Benson said. “I know to be in the top 10 you had to have a 5.17. I think our class as a whole has the highest GPA ever (in school history).”

The Spartans (23-1) also have their best team ever. They won their first 23 games before losing to third-ranked Lake Park 25-16, 25-23 on Friday in a battle of No. 1 sectional seeds.

Benson’s play has been a big reason for that, as has his chemistry with Schuele. The two have played together since sixth grade.

“He makes my life a lot easier,” Schuele said. “I know he’ll be able to get up and hit anything I put up there.”

Other teams know that, too, so they design their game plans around denying Benson the ball. Lake Park (16-1) was the first team to succeed in limiting Benson, largely because the Lancers served so well that it disrupted the Spartans’ passing.

“He’s an amazing player,” Lake Park coach Brian Fischer said of Benson. “When they’re passing at the net, he’s the biggest threat in the state, so our serving was a big part of (our strategy), trying to keep them out of system.”

Benson had four kills, tying Glab for the team lead, and two blocks against Lake Park.

“I was not on tonight,” Benson said. “They had a double block on me pretty much every time I was up. I need to run more behind and change things up.

“It’s a little different because we’re streaming (our matches online), so it’s a lot easier for teams to scout us now.”

That doesn’t mean it is easy to defend Benson. Unlike many tall middles, Benson is not immobile. His agility means he can be effective from multiple positions.

“He’s so talented he could hit anywhere,” St. Francis coach Mike Lynch said. “Obviously, for us, we need him in the middle because blocking is a big part of the game.

“He can hit probably five different balls well, not just the high ball. He’s doing so many things that people don’t realize how hard he’s working or what he’s doing out there.”

Benson said speed is one of his best assets.

“I think I can play around the other middle,” Benson said. “It’s a little harder with a double block, but usually with a single block I’m pretty confident I can hit around them.

“Especially with (Schuele) setting me up, it’s a lot easier to hit shots.”

Benson’s course load was lighter this year but the Wheaton resident’s school work wasn’t necessarily easier.

“He was taking calculus AP last year and college level variables this year,” Lynch said. “He’s going to Princeton for a reason.”

The Spartans, who are the No. 1 seed at the Hinsdale Central Sectional, hope they will be going somewhere they have never been before – the state finals. St.Francis has never won a sectional championship, having lost in the sectional finals three times and the sectional semifinals once.

The senior-laden Spartans know this could be their best chance to make school history. Schuele wants nothing more than to win his last match playing with Benson.

“It’s just been super cool being able to play with him through the years,” Schuele said. “We’ve known each other for a long time.

‘We’re hoping to (realize) that goal of winning state.”