Sycamore ends Hampshire's season

The Burlington Central girls volleyball regional was considered one of the toughest in the state in Class 3A.

Sycamore lived up to that billing in a title match between 30-win teams Saturday night. Hampshire played like it didn't belong.

The Spartans were not challenged in a 25-18, 25-12 sweep, a contest that was really no contest.

"You have to give Sycamore credit, they played their hearts out," Hampshire coach Karen Whitehouse said. "But it was just a disappointing effort. I mean, we weren't here tonight. It didn't matter what team was on the other side of the court. We beat ourselves.

"You have to come out to play each game, and we didn't come out ready tonight. And this was the most important match. I've got six seniors on this team and it didn't show tonight. There was no leadership on the court. We were quiet. Whatever happened it was like we came out on the defensive. It was almost like we were playing timid from the start."

Hampshire (30-5) actually led 4-0 lead in Game 1, thanks to a spike from senior outside hitter Amy Wehrs (match-high 8 kills) and errors by Sycamore (31-6). That was as confident as Hampshire would feel the rest of the match

The Whips made 3 hitting errors and 3 service to allow Sycamore to tie the game at 8 before senior outside hitter Brittany Olson smashed consecutive kills to stake the Spartans to a 10-8 lead. A block kill by middle blocker Evyn McCoy against Amy Wehrs and another passing error that resulted in an easy spike for a Sycamore point forced Whitehouse to call a timeout. But it didn't help.

A line violation, a net violation, a double hit due to miscommunication between teammates and faulty passing gave Sycamore more cushion. Olson, who fired up her team with a clean block kill of a spike by Hampshire setter Kara Wehrs, sealed Game 1 with another booming hit, one of her team-high 7 kills.

Game 2 was never a game at all. Sycamore jumped to a 6-0 lead when Hampshire opened with 4 straight unforced errors, followed by an ace from Kate Binder and one of McCoy's 3 blocks.

Asked if she thought the victory would be as easy as it turned out to be, Sycamore setter Jill Johnson (15 assists) said, "No, not at all because that team is really good. We were expecting a lot out of them."

Sycamore extended its lead to 14-4 before Hampshire showed signs of life. The Whips won 6 of 7 points, a run capped by a Kara Wehrs ace, to pull within 15-10. However, the Spartans spurted for 7 of the next 8 points to regain complete command, helped by 4 more Hampshire service or hitting errors

One mistake on serve receive led to another and another," Kara Wehrs said. "We broke down mentally and from that point on we just couldn't pick it back up."

Olson crushed a Johnson set to give Sycamore a 24-12 lead and her block kill at match point finalized Sycamore's eighth regional title in program history.

The loss ended the standout careers of Hampshire's seniors, including the Wehrs twins, who will play for Kansas University.