Benet senior Keira O’Donnell has never set foot in Illinois State’s CEFCU Arena, not even as a spectator.
The 6-foot-1 outside hitter will get her first look at the place when the Redwings play Huntley in a Class 4A state semifinal at 7 p.m. Friday.
“I’ve never made it to this point, so I’m very excited,” O’Donnell said. “I kind of go into every game thinking that it could be my last.”
O’Donnell’s last contest, at least at the high school level, will come Saturday in the third-place match or state final. The Lemont transfer made sure of that by helping Benet beat New Trier 25-17, 25-15 in the St. Charles North Supersectional on Monday.
O’Donnell, a Southern Mississippi commit, had four kills, all of which came in the first set. Her last one gave the Redwings a 23-16 cushion.
“It’s awesome,” she said. “When I go up and try to get the ball, the intent is to always try to put it down or to at least get the other side out of system.
“I felt like tonight I played really well with getting some four balls and getting some kills.”
Several of O’Donnell’s teammates had gaudier stats against the Trevians, including junior outside hitter Brooklynne Brass, a Maryland recruit who led all players with 12 kills.
Junior middle Lynney Tarnow, a Wisconsin commit, added seven kills for the Redwings (39-1), and junior right-side hitter Sophia Chinetti and senior setter Audrey Asleson each had three kills. Asleson added 29 assists, six service points, six digs and three blocks.
But Benet coach Brad Baker said numbers alone can’t account for the impact O’Donnell has made this season.
“Everyone wants to count kills, but what do you do with a ball when you can’t get a kill?” Baker said. “She gets a lot of swings where she’s got to try to get us the ball back, and she’s got to try to manage the possession, and she’s one of the best we’ve ever had here at doing that.”
That’s high praise, especially considering how many star players the Redwings have had over the past two decades. But they won most of the longest rallies against New Trier (27-7), which scored more than two consecutive points just twice.
“You can’t always quantify that,” Baker said. “You know what a kill is, but what is it worth when they don’t get a swing off a ball that you hit?
“She does that a lot, more than people recognize. She’s just really, really good at things that don’t always go into the stat sheet.”
The Redwings are really good at playing defense and were stellar again Monday. Senior libero Aniya Warren, a Purdue commit, led the effort with 13 digs. Brass had six digs, and senior defensive specialist Morgan Asleson, a Dayton commit, had four digs.
“Our passing kind of let everybody have opportunities, and that just helped the overall game,” Brass said. “It’s really great being able to have multiple people who can attack because it helps everybody. (O’Donnell) did great tonight.”
O’Donnell was on the floor when the Redwings reached match point. Brass clinched it with a kill off an assist from Audrey Asleson.
“It was very surreal, just hearing all of our fans cheering,” O’Donnell said. “Even the (announcer) saying it was the last point and we were state-bound, it was very chilling.
“So I was very excited, just wanted to put the ball down if I got the opportunity, and we were all going to fight for that last point.”
This will be Benet’s 10th appearance in the state semifinals and the third for many on the current roster. It will be the first for O’Donnell and Brass, who transferred from Minooka.
“There’s a few kids for whom that’s new,” Baker said. “Whenever I see alumni, they always say one of their highlights of high school is the trip to Redbird (CEFCU) Arena.
“We’ve been lucky enough to have a lot of kids be able to experience it. It’s really cool.”
Brass has been to the state finals as a spectator, but she’s excited to be able to experience playing there with O’Donnell. They are aiming to win the program’s first state title since 2019 and fifth overall.
“I feel like everybody’s energy is just super high,” O’Donnell said. “We want to go out and win a state championship.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter.
