Holthus, Rockets roll over Green Wave in 2

Any squad harboring hopes of beating the Burlington Central Rockets girls volleyball team this season had better find a way to stop imposing Northwestern-bound junior outside hitter Stephanie Holthus.

St. Edward shouldn't fret because it was unable to slow Holthus, who notched 20 kills in Central's 25-14, 25-18 nonconference win over the visiting Green Wave on Thursday. After all, the best players from across the United States failed to slow her down last summer as Holthus' club team won the 16-and-under national tournament title and she was named national tournament MVP.

It's no secret: Whenever the possibility presents itself, Central setter Molly Turk is going to get the ball to Holthus, one of the best high school hitters in the country.

Said Turk: "The first game against Kaneland, (coach) Marv (Leavitt) told me, "OK, this is how it's going to be. About two-thirds of the time we're going to Steph. I don't care if teams know it. Move her around.'"

That's exactly what Turk, a Northern Iowa-bound senior, did in a key spot in Game 2.

Central had cruised to a 25-14 win in Game 1 as St. Edward struggled to adjust without senior outside hitter Kristen Haggenjos, its prime scoring weapon. The Loyola recruit sprained an ankle Wednesday when she landed on teammate Katie Yohn's foot in a win over Aurora Central and won't be available until Monday, when the Green Wave face Immaculate Conception.

Nevertheless, St. Edward (1-1) found its footing behind the strong play of Yohn (6 kills) early in the second game, which featured 6 ties and 2 lead changes en route to an 11-11 tie. That's when Turk started moving Holthus around like she worked for Bekins. Holthus slammed 2 straight kills off the St. Edward block, then smashed another down the left sideline to give the Rockets a 14-11 lead.

"Those three kills she hit from three different spots," St. Edward coach Jaime Walton said. "You can't take anything away from her. When you've got an athlete like that it's tough to stop her."

Said Yohn: "(Holthus) has an insane vertical. She's so tall that it's hard to judge just where she's going to hit it. One of our top goals tonight was to stop her from getting all her kills and she got (20) tonight, so we failed at that. That was basically the whole game."

The feisty Wave wasn't done yet, however. They recovered to even Game 2 at 15-15, thanks to a tip kill by Yohn, an ace by Holly Knott and a Central hitting error. But Central (2-0) responded by scoring 6 straight points on Holthus' serve to take control for good. Junior Taylor Scully (8 kills) contributed a block kill, Emily Moxness notched a point with an off-balance hit and Hothus served 2 aces to fuel the run.

"I'm just trying to get everyone excited and playing with intensity," Holthus said. "As long as our passing keeps it up, I have Molly setting me so and it's a good combo."