Rockets shine against Iowa's top team

The Burlington Central girls volleyball team got the opportunity to play Iowa's No. 1 ranked team Saturday and the Rockets had double success with it.

Playing in the Bettendorf, Iowa Invitational, the Rockets stunned previously undefeated and top-ranked Ankeny to begin pool play 21-17, 21-18 before coming back to beat Ankeny 25-18, 25-22 in the title match. In between, BC downed Iowa City 21-15, 19-21 and North Scott 21-17, 21-15 to conclude pool play before stopping West Des Moines Valley 25-17, 25-15 in the semifinals.

"It was a really good day for us," said BC coach Marv Leavitt, whose team is now 24-3 on the season. "Our defense was really strong in the championship game with 49 digs. We've been working hard on our defensive game and it was really good today."

Senior libero Brooke Porto led the defensive effort with 17 digs and by going 41-for-42 on serve receive. Stephanie Holthus had 26 digs and was 51 of 52 on serve receive in addition to pounding 38 kills.

Molly Turk had 112 assists, 17 kills, 22 digs and 11 blocks for the Rockets while Teresa Krog had 39 kills, 10 blocks, 6 aces and 31 points. Kim Ingraham had 22 kills and 12 blocks for the Rockets and Rachael Latham added 19 kills and 26 points.

At Schaumburg: After opening play at the Schaumburg Invitational Saturday with a 16-25, 25-23, 15-12 loss to Stevenson, Cary-Grove' girls volleyball team bounced back to win it all, earning championship honors after defeating Hononegah in the title match.

En route to the title, the Trojans (24-7) picked up a win over Bartlett (25-4, 25-18) before facing Hononegah a first time, a match which resulted in a 33-35, 25-20, 15-11 all out battle concluding in favor of Cary-Grove.

In the semifinals, C-G took on host Schaumburg walking away with a 25-20, 25-19 victory. The win put the Trojans in line for a rematch with Hononegah.

Cary-Grove took this one in two games by scores of 25-15, 25-21.

"We played our best volleyball of the season," said C-G coach Patty Langanis. "We were extremely pleased to take the title home from such a difficult tournament."

Leading the attack for C-G were Abey Heredia, who had 115 assists and 13 aces, Erin Wahl (62 digs) and Allison Straumann, who finished action with 48 kills.

"The girls worked very hard start to finish here," said Langanis. "They deserved the win."

"They (Cary-Grove) are a solid team." said Saxons coach Jeanette Pancratz, whose loss to the Trojans in the semifinals was only the fourth all season for Schaumburg (22-4). "Hats off to them."

Crystal Lake South took fourth place at the tournament. The Gators (16-11) beat Glenbard East 23-25, 25-21, 16-14, Larkin 25-17, 25-16, and Schaumburg 25-11, 25-20, 27-25. Despite the loss of two of the Gators' main setters do to an ankle sprain and dehydration, South fell to Schaumburg 14-25, 26-24, 12-15 as well as Hononegah 17-25, 26-24, 23-25.

Crystal Lake South coach Laura Jensen was proud of how her team performed after having two setters sidelined earlier in the day.

"We lost Jordan Guida in our first match against Glenbard North when she turned her ankle," Jensen said. "Then our No. 2 setter (Chelsea Sirovatka) became dehydrated in our fourth match (semifinals against Rockton-Honenegah).

"So we ended up with Lena Mack setting. She is our right side hitter."

Mack helped spark the Gators in their Game 2 win over Schaumburg. With her team trailing 11-10, Mack served for 7 straight points for a 17-11 lead.

During the run, she had an ace and the Gators received 3 blocks from Erin Johnson a kill by Katie Trayser.

Kaitlin Shumacher and Morgan Kilberger had outstanding performances as they each collected 24 kills on the day. Ally Meyers was also able to collect 57 digs to contribute to the Gators' place finish.

Trailing 23-15 to Crystal Lake South in Game 3 of the third-place match, the Saxons stormed back for a 25-11, 20-25, 27-25 victory over the Gators.

Schaumburg deserved credit for its resiliency in Game 3.

The Saxons never led until the final 2 points -- a kill by Heather Bolger and floater ace by Gabrielle Blackwell (35 kills, 22 digs, 22 assists, 5 blocks).

Just two days earlier, Schaumburg rallied from a 24-18 deficit in Game 2 against Barrington to sweep the Fillies.

"We have a lot of heart," said setter Drewann Pancratz (79 assists, 28 kills), who had a lot of impact on the comeback in Game 3 with some splendid dumps for kills. "It just shows out mindset determines our destiny."

The Saxons looked like they were destined for a possible sweep after a decisive 25-11 win in Game 1.

Monica Sanchez (17 digs) helped set the tone when she jump served for the fist 5 points, including 3 aces. She also served for the final 2 points both aces.

Sanchez had 9 aces for the day.

"Coach just tells us the zone," Sanchez said. "I just try to find the angles and put it in right direction.

"It was a long day for us. So it was good that we really pushed at the end to win it."

Trailing 23-16, Alexandria Jackson served the Saxons to within 23-21, getting 2 aces along the way.

The Gators got to match point at 24-22, but Schaumburg scored the next 2 points on kills by senior Gabrielle Blackwell.

A kill by the Gators' Morgan Kilberger gave CLS a 25-24 lead but Blackwell put down another smash off a set from Pancratz for the 25-25 tie.

Blackwell then served for the final two points.

"We finished really strong," said Jackson, who collected 26 kills, 4 blocks 14 digs in five matches. "For some reason, we slowed down in Game 2, but we picked up big time at the end of Game 3."