WHEATON – Waubonsie Valley's girls volleyball team has seen just about enough of Benet Academy.
In the quarterfinals of the 24-team Wheaton Classic Saturday, Benet topped the Warriors, 25-23, 25-16. That is the third time Waubonsie has lost to the Redwings already this season, and it forced the Warriors into the consolation bracket.
Waubonsie wound up taking seventh place and stands at 11-7 heading into this week.
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"I told them we can lose to them as many times as we want, as long as we don't lose to them at sectionals," Waubonsie coach Kristen Stuart joked. "They're a lot bigger than us, so pretty much we have to play near-perfect to beat them because they're so much bigger."
Waubonsie ended the tournament on a high note, topping another team that is in its sectional, tournament top seed Hinsdale Central, in three sets in the final match still going at the end of the tournament.
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"It's fun to play teams like that," Waubonsie senior Martha Stewart said. "Especially when they're so well known and we're not as well known. It's fun to be the underdogs. We should have won it in two sets, but it's nice to say that we beat them."
The Warriors were seeded seventh heading into the tournament, and played exactly to their seed. But they left wanting a bit more, especially after a tough loss to Lemont that prevented the Warriors from playing for fifth place instead of seventh.
"I think we could have played a lot better," Stewart said. "We should have been in the fifth-place match. We should have beaten Lemont. We've beaten them before. I think we should have taken fifth, but I think we should have been in the top four, personally."
The focus for the other Stuart -- the coach -- before hosting the Warrior Blast next weekend is getting her team to become more consistent. It was something that plagued Waubonsie throughout the tournament.
"We even said after (the Lemont loss), we felt like we were in control, we just couldn't close it out," Stuart said. "We weren't finishing games. That's something we need to work on as a team. It's a focus for us now."
That said, Stuart feels like the Warriors are on the right track.
"I feel like they're starting to get a sense of what they could be," Stuart said. "We're getting better every match. Finishing seventh at this tournament is solid. I think it will help give them confidence."
