HERRIN -- Benton's young varsity volleyball team went into the Southern Illinois River-to-River Conference tournament Saturday -- hosted by Herrin High School -- still without a win in the regular season.
When they completed tournament play, the Rangerettes (3-4) left with three wins and the championship in the bronze bracket (seventh overall in the tournament).
"In tournament, you get to see where everyone is at and where you are at," said Rangerettes coach Rhonda Carlton. "Right now, we're in the middle of the conference. We're young and small, but there's no doubt in my mind that given any team at our size, my team can prevail. We just need to work on how to compete with the taller teams."
The Rangerettes got off to a rough start in the tournament, suffering two losses - the first to Pinckneyville (25-21, 25-21) and the second to Massac County (25-17, 25-12). Both of these teams went on to earn the championship in the gold (Massac County) and silver (Pinckneyville) brackets.
Then, Carlton decided to stir the pot and change some players' positions. Their third match in pool play was against Du Quoin, and finally, Benton earned its first win in two sets (25-22, 26-24).
"Adjusting the line I felt would strongly change the outcome of the game," Carlton said. "I told the girls beforehand, 'if it's broke, fix it.' So we moved them around and we won."
This win propelled the spikers to the bronze bracket where they won two more matches to take the title. First, they took down Sparta in two sets (25-22, 25-22) and then they beat Carterville in two sets (25-16, 25-12).
"With us being so young, we needed those wins to boost confidence," Carlton said. "They met my expectations in this tournament. I know we are young, but we're on the verge. We need to learn and gain the confidence to know where everyone is on the court. We will have to fight for every point we get."
Individually, Ember Milby, Kiley Carter and Mady Darr had 14 kills each for Benton while Madi McLain and Zoe Carlton served up five aces each. Sheridan Campbell successfully served 19 attempts, including a pair of aces. Gretchen Wilborn and Kaitlyn Kuchar had a 93.8 and 92.9 serving percentage.
Defensively, Milby and Darr had a team-leading seven blocks. Jessica Case led the Rangerettes with 51 digs.
Presley Allsop and Carlton had 27 and 21 digs, respectively.
Benton traveled to Centralia Tuesday and will host Carterville at 7:15 p.m. Thursday.
Reporter Rick Hayes contributed to this report.
