Girls volleyball: Boylan takes out Burlington Central

ROCKFORD - This was supposed to be a rebuilding year for Burlington Central's girls volleyball team after the Rockets graduated 8 seniors last year. Thirty-one wins later, their season finally ended in the regional finals.

Rockford Boylan, playing before a raucous home crowd, kept the Rockets off-balance all night and walked away with a 25-16, 20-25, 25-19 win against the top-seeded Rockets in their own Class 3A regional.

Central had all the momentum after scoring the last 4 points of the second set, but the Titans started the third set with a pair of service aces, built the lead to 4-0, and never looked back.

The Rockets had trouble with serving on both ends.

"We struggled all night with serve-receive," said Central coach Marv Leavitt. "They played really well and didn't let us get on runs. But we didn't let ourselves get on runs, either. We were struggling from the service line. But that's the kind of team we try to be. We try to be an aggressive serving team, and we're going to miss."

Lexie VanHeil had 8 kills, 3 aces, and 4 block kills for the Rockets. Summer Smith added 7 kills. Leah Murphy and Megan Lomas had 5 apiece. Murphy also had 10 digs, while Rachel Gaydos led with 11. Lexi DeWaard had 24 assists.

The second set turned on a close call that went the Rockets' way. With Central leading 21-20, Murphy dropped a cut shot right near the sideline. The line judge called it out, but was overruled by the chair official. With that point in hand, the Rockets rattled off 3 more to take the set.

Boylan led by as many as 9 points in the third set, but the Rockets wouldn't go quietly. Trailing 23-15, they went on a 4-1 run to make it 24-19. Even on match point, the Rockets were trying frantically to make a play, but the ball hit the ceiling and dropped for the final point.

But the Rockets weren't about to let the loss tarnish their season, in which they finished 31-6.

"Last year eight seniors graduated and everyone just expected us to be in the middle of the pack," said Leavitt. "To be a rebuilding year and to come away with 31 victories and be undefeated in conference, competitive in all our tournaments that we played, it was a great year."