Hampshire outlasts DeKalb, but Burlington Central gets upset

They play some pretty good volleyball down in DeKalb County. Burlington Central learned that lesson the hard way. Hampshire found out, too, although not as painfully.

The top-seeded Whip-Purs barely survived fifth-seeded DeKalb, 24-26, 15-16, 27-25 at the Class 3A Burlington Central regional Thursday night. Earlier, Sycamore upset the second seed Rockets, 25-12, 17-25, 25-23.

Hampshire and Sycamore play Saturday at 7 p.m. for the title.

Kara Wehrs had 9 kills and Amy Wehrs 8 to lead Hampshire (30-4).

DeKalb's twin towers of Emily Bemis and Courtney Thomas gave the Whip-Purs fits all night, which wasn't exactly a surprise.

"We knew it was going to (Bemis) and (Thomas), and we were having trouble shutting them down," said Hampshire coach Karen Whitehouse.

Hampshire trailed 24-23 in the third game. The Whips tied it on a kill by Cassie Dumoulin and went ahead on Dumoulin's service ace. The Barbs tied it again, but a kill by Kara Wehrs and a well-placed tip by Amy Wehrs closed out the match.

Hampshire took control of the second game on a run of 5 straight aces by Amy Wehrs off her jump serve. That put the Whips ahead 16-9 and they cruised from there.

Earlier, DeKalb downed fourth seed Kaneland to advance to the semifinal.

In the second match, Burlington never got in sync in Game 1. Rockets' coach Marv Leavitt noted that Central's top hitters, Stephanie Holthus and Taylor Scully, were both nursing injuries and appeared tentative early.

They found their rhythm in Game 2. Holthus had 9 of her 20 kills and Scully had 4 of her 13 as Central turned the tables on the Spartans, 25-17.

The third game went back and forth. The Rockets led 23-22 after a Sycamore block attempt went out of bounds. But the Spartans came back with 2 kills and sealed the match on a Rocket hitting error.

Kaitlyn O'Reilly had 34 assists for the Rockets (26-10). Holthus and Samantha Bohne each had 9 digs.