Class 3A volleyball preview: Central vs. Payton
Class 3A
Teams: Burlington Central (34-6) vs. Chicago Payton (37-1)
When: Today, 4:30 p.m. Redbird Arena
Coaches: BC's Marv Leavitt is 531-159 in his 19th year of coaching and 116-34 in his fourth year at Burlington. Payton's Joel Anderson is 68-7 in his second season at the school.
How they got here: The Rockets won the Sycamore regional, beating Kaneland and Sycamore, and then the Sterling sectional with wins over LaSalle-Peru and Freeport. They advanced to the Final Four for the first time in program history with a 25-23, 25-18 win over Metamora at the Freeport supersectional. Payton downed Senn and Ridgewood to win he Ridgewood regional then defeated Gordon Tech and Trinity to win the Trinity sectional. The Grizzlies knocked off Marian Central 21-25, 25-20, 27-25 to win the Grayslake Central supersectional and advance to the state finals for the first time in school history.
Outlook: Two first-timers at Redbird meet in one Class 3A semifinal. Burlington Central, under the direction of longtime coach Marv Leavitt, who is making his first appearance as a coach at ISU, was all business during its Thursday practice session at "The Bird". The Rockets are led by the Division I tandem of senior setter Molly Turk (Northern Iowa) and Northwestern-bound junior Stephanie Holthus, who has more kills this season (495) than any player in the state tournament in any class. "We know they have the Holthus girl on the outside and we know about Molly Turk, of course," said Payton coach Joel Anderson, who played club ball at the University of Iowa and who has coached club and high school volleyball for 18 years and runs the Powerhouse Volleyball Club in Chicago. "They'll come like us - with nothing to lose and playing care-free volleyball." In addition to Holthus' 495 kills, she also has a team-high 279 digs and an effective jump serve that has resulted in 73 aces. Turk, meanwhile, has 692 assists, 230 kills and 197 digs for the season. The Rockets, though, are not a two-player team. Senior Megan Zasada has racked up 213 digs and 60 aces and junior outside Taylor Scully, who scored the winning points in both sectional wins, has 189 kills and 194 digs. Freshman Kaitlyn O'Reilly has also been an effective setter with 263 assists and freshman libero Samantha Bohne has 147 digs. "It will be a fun matchup," said Anderson. "We know (Burlington) is a tough team." Anderson's Grizzlies have lost only to Conant (25-12, 25-23) this season and played only 11 matches outside the Chicago Public League prior to the postseason. They are the first CPL team to advance to a state final tournament since the city gave up its automatic bid to state five years ago. They will also become the first CPL team to ever bring home state hardware in girls volleyball. They won the city championship in 3 games over Whitney Young. "We're a very cohesive team," Anderson said. "We've got three great seniors and we're playing our best volleyball right now." One of those seniors, 6-foot middle Courtney Cunningham, is an imposing figure with 456 kills and 77 blocks for the season. She will play at Mississippi next year, becoming the first Payton athlete in school history to earn a Division I scholarship. She had 16 kills and 5 blocks in the supersectional win over Marian Central. Senior outside Ellyse Rodriguez has 149 kills and 182 digs for the season while senior outside Amy Banaszek is hoping to contribute after being sidelined with an ankle injury. Six-foot-2 sophomore middle Mari Faines has 212 kills and 88 blocks and sophomore setter Roxanne Rivera has dished out 870 assists. "We've faced teams with pretty good middles," said BC's Turk Thursday while watching the Grizzlies practice. "I'm pretty confident in our outsides. (Payton) doesn't have a lot of blocking outside and Steph and Taylor should do fine." Turk says what remains to be seen is how each team will react to playing at Redbird for the first time. "We'll see when the crowd gets here," she smiled. "Serving feels a little different here." Holthus agrees things will be a little different today than they've been through the postseason. "There will be some nerves," she said. "When we get out there and all the seats are filled there will be some nerves. We'll just come out and play the way we play. Our underclass players have done really well with the pressure so far." Leavitt expects another good match. "It will be a battle," he said. "They've got some good players. It will come down to ball control and serving."
Advancement: The winner will play for the state championship on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. against the winner of the second semifinal between Joliet Catholic and Breese Mater Dei. Burlington Central took Joliet Catholic to 3 games earlier in the season at the Geneva tournament. The third place game is at 4:30 p.m. Saturday.