Gritty win for Burlington Central

Burlington Central got more credit for grit than for style. The Rockets fought through some rough patches to defeat Genoa-Kingston, 25-22, 25-15, in the Big Northern East girls volleyball opener for both teams Wednesday on Rocket Hill.

Sydney Sand had 8 kills and setter Allie O’Reilly had 20 assists to lead the Rockets to their fifth straight win before an enthusiastic home crowd.

Burlington trailed for much of the first game as the Rockets struggled to overcome their own hitting errors and the formidable presence of Cogs’ middle hitter Jordan Rich.

Rich had 6 kills in the first game, which often seemed to be a duel between the opposing number 9s: Sand and Rich.

The Rockets got better as the night wore on. After falling behind 3-0 in Game 2, the Rockets fought back to take the lead for good at 8-7, and steadily pulled away.

“We had a lot of hitting errors, but we fought through that today, and that’s what I really liked,” said Central coach Marv Leavitt. “When we needed to, we found a way to get the job done.”

Freshman Lauren Wiltsie added 4 kills, and libero Samantha Bohne had 13 digs for the Rockets, who moved to 9-7 overall.

With the first game tied 15-15, Leavitt called timeout to rally the troops. His message was pretty simple: “He told us to play more together,” said Wiltsie.

Rich finished with 10 kills and 5 digs for Genoa, but wasn’t as much of a factor in the second game. The Rockets adjusted their defense to account for Rich, while also cutting down on their own hitting errors. Those factors allowed them to put some runs together and eventually put the Cogs (3-5) away.

“We just kind of let their runs get the best of us,” said Genoa coach Keith Foster, the former Elgin High coach. “We just weren’t able to stop them when they got on those 3- and 4-point runs.”

Trailing 7-6 in game 2, the Rockets scored 4 straight points, including a kill by Hayley Brake. After the Cogs got back to within 10-9, the Rockets went on a 5-0 run.

They closed the match on a 5-0 run that featured a service ace by Karrington Bell and a kill by Wiltsie.