Whips exact some revenge
The Burlington Central girls volleyball team had already achieved its primary goal of repeating as champions of the East Division of the Big Northern Conference before Tuesday's match at Hampshire.
The Rockets' secondary objective was to run a clean sheet, as they did last season with a 10-0 league record.
Instead, host Hampshire came to life midway through Game 2 and rallied to beat the Rockets 15-25, 25-21, 25-21, snapping Central's 19-match conference winning streak and assuring the Whip-Purs of a second-place conference finish.
What did the victory mean to Hampshire?
"Everything," junior Jennifer Hubbe said. "We haven't beaten them in four years. We were nervous at first, but we got it out of the way and won."
Burlington Central (29-6, 9-1) silenced the lively Hampshire student section temporarily in Game 1 by breaking free from a 14-14 tie with an 11-1 run, sparked by 3 Hampshire errors and fueled by 2 kills apiece from setter Molly Turk (8 kills, 15 assists) and outside hitter Taylor Scully (7 kills).
The out-of-sync Whips fell behind 6-2 in Game 2, when coach Karen Whitehouse called timeout and told her players, "Just play aggressive. You have nothing to lose."
Hubbe kept Hampshire (28-2, 8-2) in the match with 4 kills in Game 2, but it wasn't until Central took a 16-11 lead on Megan Zasada's ace that the Whips rallied.
They tied the match at 18 on a Central hitting error and took the lead for good on one of Amy Wehrs' match-high 18 kills.
Kara Wehrs put Game 2 away with back-to-back points: a stuff block of Central standout Stephanie Holthus (14 kills), followed by a big swing that penetrated the Rockets' block.
Game 3 was tied at 20 until Hampshire moved ahead on a spike by Amy Wehrs and an ace from Hubbe. Another big hit from Amy Wehrs, a block kill by Chrissy Heine and a Central net violation sealed the match in favor of the Whips.
"We wanted to come in here tonight and win for pride reasons," Turk said. "But they played really well and had the advantage of being at home with their crazy fans in a place we had never played before.
"They won tonight. Another night? We'll see what happens."
But another night won't happen this season unless they both make it Downstate as the Whips and Rockets are on opposite ends of the IHSA Class 3A state tournament bracket. Regionals begin next week.
Other games: After taking Luther East in three games Monday night (25-21, 12-25, 25-21) for homecoming, Fox Valley Lutheran Academy fell to Mooseheart 25-13, 10-25, 25-11 in its final home game of the season. Sarah Mounger (6 aces, 6 kills, 3 digs, 3 blocks), Samantha Pfortmiller (10 assists, 3 aces), Tegan Pfortmiller (5 kills, 2 blocks) and Miranda McHugh (4 aces) led Monday night's attack while Mounger (7 kills, 4 aces, assist, dig) and Denise Short (4 kills, 2 aces) led in the home loss... Led by Kendall Martin (13 kills, 8 digs), Brandi Hernandez (6 digs) and Abbey Houde (9 assists), Elgin (17-13, 4-5) nabbed an Upstate Eight Conference win in three games over Streamwood (7-22, 3-7) by scores of 25-21, 17-25, 15-7. Betsy Holman (12 kills, 6 blocks), Adriana Salgado (24 assists) and Leslie Ramos (7 aces, 9 digs) led the Sabres in a losing effort.. Seniors Katie Trayser (6 kills), Erin Johnson (10 kills) and Jordan Guida (24 assists, 7 digs) led Crystal Lake South to a Senior Night Fox Valley Conference Valley Division win over Jacobs (13-16, 5-4) in two games 25-20, 25-16. Amy Cavanaugh (12 digs), Erica Liss (14 assist, 3 digs) and Lauren Pigatto (7 kills, 4 digs) led the Golden Eagle attack... Westminster Christian (11-12) earned a big nonconference win over Chicago Hope behind the play of Jessica Benson (7 aces, 6 kills, 3 digs), Hannah Graves (13 assists, 2 aces) and Sarah Rodgers (5 kills, 3 aces). The Warriors won in two games by scores of 25-6, 25-13... Larkin (8-26, 1-10) fell to Waubonsie Valley 25-10, 25-12 in the Upstate Eight despite key efforts from Isadora Borrero (2 blocks, 3 kills) and Claire Sherman (3 digs)... Cary-Grove (29-5, 8-1) went the distance defeating Dundee-Crown (16-12, 2-7) in three games by scores of 21-25, 25-11, 25-14. Allison Straumann (12 kills) and Abby Heredia (4 aces, 28 assists) combined to lead the Trojans, while Stephanie Thorson (7 kills) and Katie Cutinello (26 assists) led D-C... Despite solid efforts by Amy Dion (11 digs) and Ashley Smith (8 kills), Huntley (20-14, 6-3) fell to Prairie Ridge in three games (25-21, 18-25, 25-15)... Bartlett (18-8-1, 7-3) recorded an Upstate Eight Conference win over South Elgin (9-21, 3-7) behind the play of Carly Sahagian (9 kills, 3 digs, 4 aces), Kelly Kraft (8 digs) and Tori Burke (16 assists). Hayley Bradley (6 kills, 3 digs) led the Storm.
Jen LaPorte contributed to this report.