Spartans hang on, sink Wave
As she prepared to serve to St. Edward midway through Wednesday's match, St. Francis junior Kelsey Robinsion stepped backward onto a paper banner that had fallen to the ground upside down, tape sticking the sign to the bottom of her shoe.
She laughed as she tried to kick the sign free and blushed a bit, albeit not as pink as the special Volley for the Cure uniforms both teams were wearing. It was a rare moment of vulnerability at the service line for Robinson, who finished with 15 service points, including 9 aces, to help St. Francis to a 25-9, 20-25, 25-17 victory over the Green Wave in Elgin Wednesday night.
The win clinched a share of the Suburban Catholic Conference title for the Spartans, who had to settle for second place in the SCC behind Rosary in 2007.
"This is big for us after finishing second last year," St. Francis coach Peg Kopec said. "St. Ed's has been on a huge roll. They beat Rosary, they beat Marian, they beat everybody."
The Green Wave nearly beat St. Francis, too. St. Edward (15-13, 9-3) pulled to within 17-16 in Game 3 when Katie Yohn's spike hit the tape and rolled along the top of the net before dropping for a point.
But St. Francis (22-6, 11-1) seized control with 7 straight points, a push helped initially by 2 St. Edward errors. Highlights of the decisive run included a smash by Cassie Rio, a tip kill by Gabrielle Zito and the final 2 aces by Robinson, who blitzed St. Edward with 6 straight aces in Game 1.
"Two little mistakes made it 19-16, and they started running away," St. Edward coach Jaime Walton said of Game 3. "But we're getting there."
Loyola-bound hitter Kristen Haggenjos led the Green Wave with 9 kills, including 6 in Game 2. Sophomore Meg Vonderhaar paced the Spartans with 9 kills and Katherine Parisi and Kelsey Vogert combined for 15 digs. But the key statistic was Robinson's 9 aces.
"I just put it so it's hard for them to return," Robinson said modestly of her devastating topspin jump serve. One of her opponents was more direct.
"I've never seen a girl that good at her age," said Haggenjos, a seasoned club volleyball veteran. "She's going to go very far."
Burlington Central d. Richmond: Burlington Central senior Molly Turk heard all of the knocks before the season started.
"A lot of people doubted us," Turk said. "They doubted us because of all of the seniors we lost, our lack of blocking, our lack of a middle, our lack of experience."
Those same doubters didn't have much to say as Turk and the Rockets claimed their second-straight Big Northern East championship with a home victory over Richmond-Burton, 25-16, 25-9.
The victory, which came concurrently on Senior Night and Volley for the Cure night, gave the Rockets (24-5, 9-0) back-to-back titles for the first time in school history and also helped continue to erase the 21-year championship drought the Rockets endured before last season.
Winning 2 league titles after a 21-year drought is not as complicated as it seems, according to BC coach Marv Leavitt.
"It's not rocket science," he said. "You have good players and you get them the ball."
The good players made big plays. Turk finished with 5 kills and 22 assists, Meghan Zasada added 3 kills, 3 aces and 6 digs and fellow senior Emily Moxness put in 4 digs and 3 kills.
Richmond-Burton (11-13, 3-6) probably wishes it Central was bidding farewell to junior Stephanie Holthus as well. She led all players with 13 kills to go along with her 7 digs.
"We really wanted to come out here and win this last (home) game for the seniors," Holthus said.
-Matt Stacionis