Girls volleyball: Burlington Central finishes strong against Dundee-Crown

Burlington Central and Dundee-Crown were just about dead even for most of Tuesday's FVC match, but the visiting Rockets pulled away at the end.

After the teams each won a set by the identical score, the Rockets took control in the third set, winning the last 5 points to secure the 22-25, 25-22, 25-17 victory.

Addison Nava led the way with 11 kills for Central, while Rylie Hahn added 6.

Trailing 20-17 after a kill by MacKenzie Field, the Chargers had the serve and a chance to cut the deficit even further. Instead, a wide block gave the Rockets a point, and Jheanne Ashley Arceo served out the match.

A block by Gabby Rodriguez, a Hahn tip, a net violation against the Chargers, and Arceo's ace just inside the line finished off the win.

The Rockets fell behind early in the third set but used a 6-1 run to go up 10-7. The Chargers briefly regained the lead after a pair of aces by Rachel Piluski and a block by Field, but Central quickly regained the lead and maintained it. That early advantage provided the Rockets with the confidence to withstand Charger rallies later on.

"At the end, I think it was really important for us to get ahead in the beginning, keep the pressure on, and ultimately getting the early lead helped us toward the end of the game," Nava said. "Confidence is a big thing for our team. We have a lot of juniors on our team this year, so a lot of them are new to varsity, so it's good when our team really comes together."

A 3-1 start has helped the young Rockets group build confidence throughout the season.

"This is a new group that we put together this season," said Central coach Samantha Mainzer, "so as soon as we go on a couple of little runs here and there, the girls have more confidence to mix up the offense a little bit."

Makena Wesol had 12 kills for Dundee-Crown, but the Rockets made some defensive adjustments as the match went on that made it tougher for her to get open looks. Field finished with 5 kills and Tealyn Kamp added 3 for the Chargers (0-4).

"We just kind of lost momentum in the third set," said Chargers coach Richard Panitch. "It's such a game of momentum. You go up by three and you're serving. Instead of being up by four you're up two and that happened to us three or four times tonight."