Burlington Central downs Lakes
A perfect 10 is what the Burlington Central girls volleyball team is hoping to accomplish.
The Rockets moved to 9-0 on their home floor Tuesday night by beating Lakes, 25-20, 25-22, in the Class 3A Burlington Central sectional semifinals.
“It’s our home court and we wanted to protect,” said Central senior Makenna Jensen, who finished with 7 kills. “We haven’t lost on our court.”
The Rockets (27-11) will have a chance at 10-0 at Rocket Hill at 7 p.m. Thursday in the sectional championship match against Marian Central (22-16), which beat Regina Dominican in Tuesday’s first semifinal. Burlington Central will be going for its first sectional championship since 2008.
“Right now, we’re happy to make the Sweet 16,” Rockets coach Marv Leavitt said. “We’ll come with a game plan and show up on Thursday.”
The opening game between Central and Lakes went back and forth until the Rockets went on a 5-0 run after the game was tied 13-13 to take an 18-13 lead. Lauren Wiltsie had 2 kills and Allie O’Reilly had a pair of aces during the run.
An ace from Maddy Barry gave Central a 24-18 lead and game point. The Eagles (28-9) saved two game points before a Jenna Schudel kill gave the Rockets the opening game victory.
“I thought we had a lot of contributions tonight,” Leavitt said. “Whether it be in the back row, setting or hitting. We had a lot of people contribute.”
The Rockets opened a 16-10 lead in the second game after a Caiti Seibert ace. Lakes rallied and got within one, 16-15. An Eagles error made it 24-19 Central. Wiltsie’s seventh kill on the Rockets’ fourth match point ended the match.
“We had a great season,” Lakes coach Kate Cheek said. “I feel bad for the seniors, but they can’t be ashamed of the season they had. They did a really good job.”
Schudel had 6 kills for the Rockets. O’Reilly and Aly Detamble each had 15 digs. Berry added 18 assists and 9 digs.
Megan Behrendt and McKeena Lahr each finished with 7 kills to lead the Eagles. Maddie Demo had 16 assists. Aly Bathery added 18 digs.