Burlington Central knocks off Frantti, Richmond

Richmond-Burton has one of the best volleyball players in the country.

Burlington Central can spread the ball around and has a balanced attacked.

The balance won Tuesday night.

Central overcame 22 kills from R-B star Ali Frantti to win the Big Northern East contest, 26-24, 16-25, 25-15.

“We don’t have the dominant hitter like that,” Central coach Marv Leavitt said. “We have a lot of good hitters. We’re able to spread the court. We weren’t predictable.”

Emily Bozich led Central (9-3, 4-0) with 12 kills. Jenna Schudel added 10 kills and Makenna Jensen had 9. No R-B player other than the Penn State-bound Frantti had more than 2 kills.

“That’s something that we really have focused on,” said Bozich, a junior. “Getting the middles involved more, that opens up our outsides more, (with) opportunities to have less blocked.”

The first game was back and forth. A Central hitting error gave R-B (5-7, 3-1) a 24-22 lead. Bozich’s sixth kill of the game tied it at 23-23 and her sixth kill gave Central a 25-24 lead. An R-B error allowed Central to win Game 1.

Frantti had 10 kills in the second game as R-B broke open the game after it was tied 11-11.

“Finding Ali is great. I want to make sure that we’re utilizing her right, but not always relying on her,” said R-B assistant coach Laura Chelcun, who is in charge while coach Kaycee Kaywood is out on maternity leave. “It’s a team sport. Ali can do wonderful things and be a miracle worker, but she’s also human.”

Central controlled the deciding game from the start. It never trailed and its lead never fell under 4 after the first 7 points. Jensen finished the match with her ninth kill.

Central had lost seven straight matches to R-B, including three last season when R-B finished second in the state in Class 3A.

“It is big for us,” Leavitt said. “They are a great program with one of the best players in the nation. Ali Frantti is just unbelievable. We’re just proud. It was a nice team effort.”

Allie O’Reilly had 29 digs and Maddy Berry had 27 assists for Central.