Benton sweeps Central, stays undefeated
By Jacob Meikel
The Benton Cardinals served up a 3-0 loss to the Central Indians on Monday to improve the Cardinals’ record to 8-0 on the season.
The last two meetings between these St. Joseph School District foes had gone the distance in the past, going five sets, with both happening in comeback fashion when one team took the first two sets just to end up dropping the final three.
On Monday, the Indians would offer decent resistance against Benton, but wouldn’t have enough firepower to keep up with the Cardinals in order to take a set. Central held leads of 11-8 in the first set and 9-4 in the second set, but wouldn’t be able to hold on to either lead. Though, the leads the Indians gave up in the first two sets wouldn’t slip away too easily. Central would be able to keep the contest close in the latter half of the sets, but still fell 25-22 in set one and 25-23 in set two. Benton would then put a lid on the hopes of a comeback by asserting itself with a 25-17 game-sealing victory in set three.
Benton has just two seniors leading the charge for its varsity squad led by multi-sport athletes Andrea Simmons and Emma Loehnig. Simmons and Loehnig are also starting players for the Cardinals’ girls varsity basketball team, and both are a part of the Class 4 runner-up team in 2023.
The Cardinals will look to keep their undefeated season alive with another home match against Pleasant Hill on Tuesday night. The Central Indians’ record will drop to 3-5 with their next contest coming on the road against Oak Park on Tuesday night.
