Antioch’s Hannah Benes can pinpoint three moments that have shaped her volleyball career.
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A four-year starter, three-time team MVP and South Dakota Mines recruit, Benes recalls getting started in the sport at a facility in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, when she was 9.
“I went to the RecPlex with my dad, and we were playing with a ball that was laying around,” Benes said. “Some (AAU) coaches saw me, and they were having tryouts at the same time. They asked, ‘Hey, you want to come try out?'”
Her father, Jeff, said her enthusiasm for volleyball was born in that Wisconsin gym.
“Her love has grown from there and taken off, and we really started to see a passion for it at 12 or 13 years old,” he said.
The next moment came when Benes was in eighth grade and joined Cary-Grove coach Patty Langanis’ Balance Volleyball Club. Langanis has won a Class 4A state championship and placed second twice during her storied career.
“As soon as I got to Balance Volleyball, coach completely uprooted my foundation of volleyball and my skills,” Benes said of Langanis. “She flipped it upside down and started from scratch and built me up.”
The third moment involves Benes’ first few days of practice at Antioch. She had her sights set on becoming a varsity player as a freshman, although coach Greg Bruns wasn’t sure.
“She wanted a chance to prove herself,” Bruns said. “The main thing I remember is, ‘OK, I’ll give you a chance.’ She came up and worked hard, asked questions, and after three or four matches, she got the starting libero job.”
Benes sheepishly recalled her assertiveness in her early talks with Bruns.
“At first, coach had people divided up by grades, with the freshmen and sophomores on a court,” Benes said. “I was like, ‘I really think I can be playing on the (varsity) court. He pulled me aside, telling me about being a setter for the sophomore team. I said, ‘Oh, I can try it out.’
“But then I went home and kept thinking about it. I came back the next day and told him, ‘I really think I can have a big impact on the varsity team as a libero and defensive specialist.’ I played as hard as I could that day to hang with the varsity. It ended up working out. Sometimes you have to take a risk.”
As she begins her final high school season, Benes reflected on her career and how she has balanced it with academics. She has a 4.7 GPA and calls herself “a math and science gal.”
“This year, I was having the time of my life because I was playing four-plus hours of volleyball at least two or three times a week,” she said. “It was a fun time.
“During the pandemic (last year) is when I realized I was really attached to the sport. I can’t imagine not playing it now. This year I want to make as big of an impact on the program that I can.”
Bob Narang is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.