Trevians run into Redwings, ending New Trier’s 11-match win streak and another memorable playoff run

The Benet Academy volleyball buzzsaw is again in motion, and again, New Trier was in its path.

For the third straight season, an impressive Trevians’ playoff run came to an end a game shy of the state finals courtesy of the Redwings.

This time around, top-ranked Benet (38-2) triumphed 25-15, 25-12 against New Trier (27-9) on Monday, Nov. 10, in the IHSA Class 4A Bartlett Supersectional.

“I think we got a little bit in our heads, got a little bit intimidated, but overall I think we played really well and I am really, really proud of my team,” Trevians junior Serena Bauer said. “They are really good. They are the No. 1 team in the state. The focus for us was just to breathe; there was nothing to lose.”

A late-season surge saw New Trier win seven straight matches entering the postseason.

Then, like each season, the Trevians selected a playoff theme, and for this edition, they chose to be a shark — a predator that cannot stop moving, or else it dies.

As a playoff shark, New Trier won four more in a row — knocking off top-seeded Glenbrook North and No. 3 DePaul Prep en route to a third straight sectional championship — to get them to the final eight in Class 4A.

“We thought this was the type of team that would be relentless, that would need to be relentless,” coach Hannah Hsieh said. “Because we are undersized, because we are on the younger side, we knew we’d have to keep going no matter what the adversity was in the game, throughout the season.

“… I’m just so proud. I really did feel like this team exemplified relentless.”

In the supersectional, the Trevians ran into a bigger predator.

Benet Academy’s front line includes 6-foot-5 middle Lynney Tarnow (University of Wisconsin), 6-3 setter Ellie Stiernagle (Northwestern University) and 6-3 right side Molly Welge (Marquette University). In fact, the Redwings shortest attacker is 5-11 outside hitter Brooklynne Brass (University of Maryland).

With that in mind, Bauer said the Trevians went in trying to hit their shots high off the Redwings block and aim toward the back corners. It worked for a while.

New Trier was down 9-8 early in the first set when Benet made its first big run, a 7-2 burst that created separation from which the Trevians could not recover. The Redwings also scored six of the final seven points for a 25-15 win.

The second set followed a similar script.

The Trevians hung tough early, holding leads of 3-1 and 8-7. The Redwings then came alive. Hitting on all fronts, Benet went on a 12-0 run to take a 19-8 advantage.

Benet will be joined at the state finals in Bloomington by Lockport, Fremd and last year’s 4A champ Marist.

New Trier waves goodbye to three-year varsity talent Calia Cremascoli, who left her mark against Benet with a team-high 5 kills and 2 aces, and playoff starters Morgan Zibell and Grace O’Rourke.

The Trevians are set to become a senior-heavy and experienced unit in 2025 with the return of junior starters Bauer, fellow outside hitter Kate Andersons, libero Delaney Maher, and setters Nora Murdock and Sophia Farina. Sophomore outside Harper Payne also started.

Reflecting on the sectional-title season, Hsieh said there is plenty to remember.

“It’s hard when you have a tough loss to think about the whole season, but we started out shaky in our opener, we had a few games we wish we could have back, but we fought through so many different ups and downs,” she said. “Giving up huge leads, coming back and fighting, so we have so many good memories and we told them we are just proud of the whole season.”

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