Hampshire handles Burlington Central
Hampshire girls volleyball coach Karen Whitehouse said that if her team was going to lose, it was going to lose being aggressive from the service line.
The Whip-Purs’ serving caused Burlington Central all sorts of problems Tuesday evening. Hampshire finished with 7 aces and got several other easy points off its serve to defeat the Rockets, 25-20, 25-18, sweeping the two regular-season meetings against its rival.
“Our serving was on, Whitehouse said. “That gave us some points in the match. It was definitely one of our strengths.
The Rockets (8-12, 3-3 BNC East) struggled to get their offense in any rhythm because of their difficulties passing.
Central had only 2 kills in the opening game.
“That’s usually one of our strengths, Rockets coach Marv Leavitt said.
“Tonight we just didn’t pass the ball well and that took us out of our offense.
The opening game went back and forth until Hampshire (13-12, 5-2) went on a 5-0 run to extend an 18-17 lead to a 23-17 advantage. Alex Dumoulin’s sixth kill of the game on the second game point gave Hampshire the Game 1 win.
“Beating Burlington is like one of the coolest things in the world, said Dumoulin, who finished with 7 kills and 4 aces.
The Whip-Purs took an early 4-1 lead in the second game before the Rockets went on a 7-1 run, capped by a Sydney Sand kill, to take an 8-5 lead. Central held an 11-8 lead before Leigh-Anne Libby had a kill then went to the service line and served 2 aces and another strong serve that Central never got back over the net, giving the Whip-Purs a 12-11 lead. The Rockets did not lead again.
Melanie Bonk’s sixth kill for the floor to end the match. She also had 4 blocks.
“(Bonk) was just so consistent, Whitehouse said of the senior middle. “She played extremely smart tonight. They had to defend her swing because she was swinging aggressive, but at the same time she was smart and mixing it up.
Libby finished with 17 assists for the Whip-Purs. Tia Incapreo added 13 digs.
Brenda Thasavong and Sand led the Rockets with 3 kills apiece. Kaitlyn O’Reilly had 7 assists.
Crystal Lake South d. Jacobs: CL South gained a measure of revenge for an earlier loss by splitting the Fox Valley Conference Valley Division season series against Jacobs with a 25-16, 20-25, 25-22 victory at Gator Alley. Senior middle Hannah Burkle led the Gators (11-10, 3-3) with 11 kills, while Emmy Oraham had 21 assists and Katie Meyers contributed 3 aces and 8 digs. Alyssa Ehrhardt led the Golden Eagles with 12 kills, 6 aces and 3 digs, Taylor Lesner had 11 kills, 8 digs and an ace and Mattie Stearns had a match-high 12 digs for Jacobs (12-9, 2-4)McHenry d. Dundee-Crown: The Warriors swept the visiting Chargers 25-13, 25-22 in a Valley Division match in the Fox Valley Conference. Rebekah Hischke had 4 kills and Alexis Holm added 6 digs for Dundee-Crown (2-13, 0-6).Westminster Christian d. Rockford Christian Life: In Northeast Athletic Conference play, the Warriors (15-8-1, 4-2) completed a 25-22, 25-21 sweep, powered by Whitney Vanden Bos (12 digs, 2 aces), Cara Tyrell (7 kills, 7 digs, 2 aces) and Hannah Graves (10 assists, 8 digs, 5 kills).Bartlett d. Glenbard South: Jacki Gulczynski tallied 13 kills in 17 attempts and 3 aces to lead Bartlett (12-9) to a nonconference win in Glen Ellyn. Kelly Kraft added 4 kills and 2 aces for the Hawks.Neuqua Valley d. South Elgin: Laura Ballance and Ashley Oandasan each notched 5 kills, but it wasn#146;t enough for the Storm (6-8-1, 1-4) to avoid a 25-8, 25-20 Upstate Eight Valley defeat.Larkin d. Streamwood: The Royals won 29-27, 25-23 to spoil Senior Night for the Sabres. Liz Simonelli had 11 assists and 2 digs, Maria Ranahan had 7 kills and Aly Montemayor finished with 17 assists and 3 kills for Streamwood.Ÿ Jerry Fitzpatrick contributed to this report.