Rockets outlast Whips in BN-E
At 24-21, Hampshire stood one point away from taking a one-game lead in its Big Northern East showdown with Burlington Central Wednesday night. The Whip-Purs never got that last point.
The Rockets rallied to take that first game, 26-24, then handled the Whips in Game 2, 25-20, to win the critical conference match in Burlington.
Stephanie Holthus had 14 kills and 6 digs, and Molly Turk had 14 assists, 5 kills, 5 digs, and 4 blocks to lead the Rockets (14-2, 4-0).
Kara Wehrs had 12 kills and Amy Wehrs added 9 for Hampshire, which fell to 17-2, 4-2.
"This game meant so much to us," said Holthus. "For the past 2 weeks we've been saying 'Hampshire's coming up, Hampshire's coming up.' "
"They just came out a little more aggressive than us in their serving and their attacking," said Central coach Marv Leavitt. "They were also tipping on us and it took us awhile to adjust. I have to give our kids a lot of credit. We were down 24-21 and we made the plays that we had to win that match."
For Hampshire, it was déjà vu all over again. Mental errors were a problem, just like in its only previous loss.
"Mental mistakes, the same reason we lost last week to Harvard," said Hampshire coach Karen Whitehouse. "Mentally, we just cannot make that many unforced errors against a great team like Burlington."
With Hampshire leading 24-21, and serving, a hard kill by Holthus got the rally started. Turk then went to the service line for the Rockets and served out the game.
Two kills by Holthus and 2 blocks by Audrey Djukic were all the points the Rockets needed.
Central controlled Game 2 from the start. Hampshire took a brief 5-4 lead, but the Rockets reeled off 4 straight points and led the rest of the way.
It looked as though the Whip-Purs might turn the tables when Amy Wehrs served 3 straight aces to get Hampshire within 23-20 in Game 2. But a Hampshire error gave Central a point and the serve back.
Meghan Zasada's serve hit the net and dropped over for match point.
Leigh-Anne Libby had 13 assists and Chessa Osiecki 11 digs for Hampshire.
Taylor Scully added 5 kills for the Rockets. Zasada and Djukic each served 3 of the Rockets' 8
Girls volleyball
St. Edward d. IC: Kristen Haggenjos slammed home 18 kills and Katie Yohn added 12 as St. Edward (10-10, 7-2) downed Immaculate Conception 25-19, 20-25, 25-21 in Suburban Catholic Conference action. Haggenjos added 14 digs and 2 blocks for the Green Wave while Yohn had 14 assists and 3 blocks. Molly Kelly contributed 2 kills, 3 blocks and 3 aces.
Fox Valley Lutheran d. Christ Lutheran: Sarah Mounger had 4 kills, 2 aces and 2 blocks, Denise Short had 5 aces and Samantha Pfortmiller had 3 kills to lead the Falcons (6-3) to this 25-13, 25-17 nonconference win.
Boys soccer
Streamwood 3, St. Charles East 3: Rolando Moreno, Lenin Beltran and Ulysses Manjarez scored goals for the Sabres (12-3-3, 4-1-1) in this Upstate Eight Conference tie. Edgar Leyva made 6 saves in goal for Streamwood.