Burlington 2nd at Hampshire; Cary-Grove 3rd at Asics
The Burlington Central girls volleyball team ran roughshod through the Hampshire tournament Saturday before running into a more powerful Rocket.
The BC Rockets downed South Elgin, Hampshire, Marengo and Woodstock all in straight sets before losing to Big Northern East rival Richmond-Burton 25-19, 25-14 in the championship match.
Senior Lexie Bouza led Burlington Central (17-7) on the day with 25 kills, 39 digs, 9 aces and 10 blocks. Allie O’Reilly had 73 digs for Central, while Karrington Bell (13 aces, 21 digs), Tori Settani (13 blocks), Makena Jensen (11 kills, 8 blocks) and Lauren Wiltsie (28 digs, 20 kills) also contributed to the effort.
Jacobs took third in the tournament, beating Winnebago, Rockford Auburn, Grayslake North and South Elgin but also losing to Richmond, which is undefeated on the season.
Alyssa Ehrhardt had 38 kills, 13 digs and 29 aces while Maris Smith added 24 kills, 22 digs and 20 aces to lead the Golden Eagles (19-6). Kassie Kasper added 30 digs, Taylor Lauder had 46 assists and Mackie Traub added 42 assists and 14 digs. Katie Mahoney had 13 kills and Rachel Arceneaux 10 for Jacobs.
South Elgin went 3-2 at the tournament, beating Woodstock, Marengo and Hampshire and losing to Burlington Central and Jacobs. Corbin Kehe (67 assists), Ashley Oandasan (14 kills, 34 digs), Allison Osborne (31 kills), Amanda Nadler (18 kills, 5 blocks) and Rachel Murray (33 digs) led the Storm.
Hampshire was 2-3 at its own tournament, beating Woodstock and Winnebago but losing to Burlington, Marengo and South Elgin. Erin Foss (20 kills), Jen Dumoulin (23 kills, 69 digs, 9 aces), Arianna Rominski (18 kills, 9 aces), Julianna Gass (120 digs) and Brittany Laffin (62 assists) led the Whip-Purs.
Asics Challenge: Maddie Haggerty and St. Francis could use some rest.
An afternoon at the Asics Challenge is anything but a day off.
Haggerty, affected by a blister on her foot, is one of several dinged-up Spartans. Competing in Saturday’s Gold playoffs in the 26th annual event at Mother McAuley, No. 2 St. Francis dropped three-set matches to Marist and Joliet Catholic before beating Huntley 25-9, 25-20 for seventh place.
St. Francis coach Peg Kopec wasn’t about to use injuries as a crutch. Still, though, it was an inopportune time to be at less than 100 percent.
“I’m not blaming anything on (injuries). We won that last match without Maddie which was good,” Kopec said. “Anytime you can go 3-2 at the Challenge in the Gold, I don’t have a problem with that.”
Maddie Haggerty first developed a swollen tendon on her foot the weekend prior, and she missed two earlier matches this week with a large blister. She admitted it was painful to play through, but with rest, medication and a gel she anticipates she’ll be fine.
“I think it just came from overplaying,” Maddie Haggerty said. “It affected my shots a little bit.”
Haggerty was held out of the Huntley match, but her teammates more than picked up the slack. Michelle McLaughlin had 8 kills and 7 digs, Maddie’s freshman sister Molly Haggerty 7 kills and 4 blocks, Sam Dubiel 5 digs and 4 aces and McKenna Kelsay 18 assists.
St. Francis was in control throughout — only trailing at two points — ending the day on an uptick.
“This tournament was tough, but that was a big win,” Molly Haggerty said. “I think this experience of playing hard teams is really going to help down the road.”
Huntley was the surprise story of Friday pool play.
The young Red Raiders, seeded 22nd out of 24 teams with the worst record of the teams playing at the Asics, stunned nationally-ranked Lone Peak (Ut.) 25-17, 25-20 to make Saturday’s Gold playoffs.
On Saturday Huntley (7-10) dropped a 25-17, 25-17 decision to Notre Dame Academy (Ky.) and lost to Piux XI (Wis.) 25-10, 25-17 before falling to St. Francis. Matching up against the best still was what Huntley coach Karen Liss hoped for.
“This was a great opportunity for us to see some of the best of the best,” Liss said. “Our goal this whole season is playing consistent and we showed Friday night playing consistent minimizing errors what we could do. When that doesn’t we struggle against teams like St. Francis. You can’t give a team like that four or five points and expect to come back. They’re too good.”
Liss noted that her team’s serve-receive was flawless Friday, and thought outsides Emily Westermeyer and Erin Lyman played consistent all weekend.
“We passed on system and we could run our fast offense,” Liss said. “We are a fast team. We’re not a team that’s going to bounce balls and throw them down; we’re not that big. But offensively we spread it out and run a fast offense. Last night, our opponents didn’t know where the ball was going.”
Cary-Grove finished third at the Asics Challenge. The Trojans (12-11) beat Sandburg and Lone Peak (Utah) but lost to Catholic Memorial of Wisconsin, Notre Dame of Kentucky and Stagg. Alex Larsen (35 kills, 7 aces) and Jess Bartczyszn (100 assists) led the Trojans in the tournament.
John Radtke and Joshua Welge contributed to this report