Area Players Pethokoukis, Doyle Contribute to Benet Volleyball Team's First State Title

Senior Gabby Pethokoukis of Western Springs began her girls volleyball career at Benet Academy as a member of the freshman B team.

Now a starting varsity middle hitter, she ended it Saturday in a memorable way.

The 6-foot-3 Pethokoukis delivered the kill on match point as the Redwings won the Class 4A state championship with a 25-14, 22-25, 25-16 victory over Cary-Grove at Illinois State University’s Redbird Arena in Normal.

Starting junior libero Sheila Doyle of La Grange Park passed the free ball to setter Hannah Kaminsky for the clinching kill.

“It was just a special moment to have my last kill, my season, be the winning point for state, but it could have been anybody. Everybody contributed to that game,” Pethokoukis said. “It’s been a long road since (freshman year). It was just a great feeling that starting off there, now we’ve won a state championship so it’s a good feeling.”

It’s the first state championship for Benet in any girls sport. The Redwings (39-3) ended their season by winning their last 20 matches with just one of them needing three sets prior to going downstate.

Cary-Grove (25-5) lost in the state final for the second year in a row after winning the 2009 championship. In Friday’s semifinals, Benet defeated St. Charles East for the fourth time this season in four meetings, 25-20, 22-25, 25-19.

“I think we worked together as a team. Everybody from the very beginning knew their roles and what we had to do to get down there and I think that’s what got us over the edge,” Doyle said.

“A great team effort, it was so exciting. It happened so quickly, though. That last point, it all just happened so fast. We went down there looking to make memories, no matter what the outcome was. We just wanted to have fun, enjoy ourselves and remember it.”

Pethokoukis graduated from Highlands Middle School and Doyle graduated from St. Francis Xavier School, both in La Grange. On Tuesday, they and the team enjoyed one last moment together at a school assembly in the main gym honoring their state title, complete with plenty of trophy hoisting, and the first girls swimming sectional title in school history.

“It’s like a once-in-a-lifetime chance to be there (at state) and to be with the team. The best part was just being with the team and the team bonds,” Pethokoukis said.

The accomplishment was a long time in the waiting for the program. Benet has won five regionals but had only been downstate once before in 2008. That year, the Redwings were 40-2 and heavily-favored and rolled to the state championship match but lost to St. Charles East 23-25, 25-22, 25-19.

Pethokoukis was among the seniors on this year’s team to watch that loss from the stands. On Nov. 9, Pethokoukis signed her national letter of intent to play volleyball at Villanova University along with teammates Annie Ferlmann (Princeton), Meghan Haggerty (Wisconsin), Jenna Jendryk (Virginia Tech), Shannon O’Brien (Cornell) and Nora Young (Duquesne). There were 10 seniors on the team.

“Being down there seeing the (2008 state) team, there’s so much excitement. Ever since then, it’s been something we’ve wanted so badly,” Pethokoukis said. “We’ve just worked so hard together and kept that in mind every practice. That was just our motivation to work towards that goal.”

Pethokoukis and Doyle are examples of that dedication. Both players started on the freshman B team and then played for the sophomores before joining the varsity as juniors. Both players also began playing club volleyball as sophomores and are member of the 1st Alliance Volleyball Club.

For Benet this season, Pethokoukis was fifth on the Redwings in kills (50) and blocks (47) with six kills in the Benet Regional final victory over West Aurora Oct. 27. The 5-4 Doyle was second in digs (274) to Ferlmann and added 28 assists and 12 service aces.

In the state championship match, Pethokoukis had five kills and a single-season match-high four blocks (4 block assists), contributing to seven points. Her block assist with Maddie Haggerty and kill closed out the final two points of a 13-point run that established a 23-10 lead in the third set. Pethokoukis also had four blocks (1 solo, 3 assists) in the state semifinals.

Doyle had 10 digs after a single-match season-high 14 in the state semifinals. She went from a key back-row specialist into the libero spot during the Mizuno Cup Oct. 7-8. At state, Doyle subbed and served when Pethokoukis rotated into the back row.

“Volleyball is kind of a new thing for me, but it’s been great so far and Benet, the coaches, everybody on the team has been so great with it,” Doyle said. “Everybody’s around, working hard, doing their job and I think being in that atmosphere every day, it’s really beneficial for me. Every day, when it’s a hard practice, I think that helps a lot.”

Both varsity seasons, Pethokoukis has had to battle not being able to play. In 2010, Pethokoukis missed most of the season with a broken bone in her foot. She returned for the playoffs but saw her only action in the sectional final, when the Redwings lost to Hinsdale South.

Benet’s last loss this season came in three sets Oct. 6 to Marist, which finished fourth in 4A. The Redwings also lost to sectional finalist York Aug. 31 in two sets after previously beating the Dukes and regional finalist Providence in three sets Sept. 29. Benet actually tied for third with Joliet Catholic in the East Suburban Catholic Conference at 7-2, one game behind co-champs Marist and Providence.

Pethokoukis was off to a strong start this season before she broke a finger on her right hand blocking during the loss to York. She returned and then was sidelined by before making her way back to the lineup full-time in mid-October.

“It definitely gave me the desire to come back and want to work hard to get better and want to win state because you see all of your teammates on the court playing,” Pethokoukis said. “It’s not fun being on the side. You want to be out there. It definitely developed that hunger inside of me.”

Pethokoukis has been on the 1st Alliance’s top team for her age group the past two seasons. In 2011, her 17 Silver team finished 10th in the Open Division at the USA Volleyball National Junior Championships in Atlanta. Doyle debuted with 1st Alliance’s 16 Black team in 2011 and played at the Amateur Athletic Union Junior National Championships in Orlando, Fla. Doyle is focusing on club volleyball and not playing basketball for Benet for the first time this season.

The 1st Alliance experience was instrumental in Pethokoukis not only being recruited but also being offered a scholarship that she verbally accepted in August, 2010 just before starting her junior year of high school. Pethokoukis also trained with former USA National Volleyball Team member Terri Zemaitis-Boumans, a three-time NCAA All-American at Penn State.

A member of the Big East Conference, Villanova (17-12, 8-6 in Big East) enters this weekend’s conference tournament as the No. 7 seed after being 23-7 in 2010. Josh Steinbach is 82-60 in his fifth season as head coach and was the 2007 Big East Coach of the Year. The Wildcats have qualified for the NCAA Tournament once in 1997.

“I wanted a school that had a balance between both academics and athletics and Villanova really provides that to their student-athletes,” said Pethokoukis, who plans to major in business or marketing. “They’re hard working. They’re all just really nice people. I went on campus and absolutely fell in love with it. It’s gorgeous. It was a big relief to know that I love the school and I can see me going there.”