Girls volleyball: Burlington Central pushes past Hampshire in 3
When Burlington Central got to match point Tuesday night against visiting Hampshire, senior Rylie Hahn had a quick word for setter Rachael Stoneman.
"I said to Rachel, 'Feed me this ball. I want to put this down,'" Hahn said.
Stoneman took a perfect pass from libero Abby Devol, set Hahn, and the Rockets' go-to hitter did what she said she would, landing a cross-court kill to finish a 25-16. 22-25, 25-21 season-opening victory.
It was Hahn's eighth kill in the deciding third set and 15th for the match.
"That was great," Hahn said. "Those last few points were super crucial, especially for our offense and our defense to finally come together. Second set, there was some plays we could have done better on but for the third set we came together when we needed to and took care of business."
Wearing No. 16 for Burlington Central (1-0, 1-0 in the Fox Valley Conference), Hahn traded blows with Hampshire's No. 16, Jacey Lambert, all match.
Lambert led the Whip-Purs (1-1, 0-1) with 15 kills, and like Hahn she got better as the match went on.
After a slow start for the Whips in the opening set, Lambert put down 6 kills in the second set to help Hampshire even the match.
The Whips took the lead early in the second set. Six times the Rockets came back to tie but each time the Whips won the next point to stay ahead.
The final tie came at 21-21. Kills from Emily Trepanier, a tip by Lambert and Emily Mohr's ace took Hampshire to set point, which the Whips won when Emilia Frankiewicz hit down the line for a winner.
"We have new rotations running so for the first set just getting used to it, we weren't putting the ball down like we wanted to," Lambert said. "Second set we had a lot more communication, our passes got better, we were putting balls down a lot faster."
Hampshire had its chances in the third set. Trailing 14-10, the Whips went on a 6-1 run to pull ahead 16-15 on Mohr's tip.
Hahn struck back with kills on three of the next four points, putting the Rockets ahead to stay at 18-17. Hampshire coach Will Benenhaleycalled time after Brooke Hoffman's kill put the Rockets ahead 19-17, then Hahn came out of the timeout with an ace. Trepanier's smash got the Whips as close as 23-21 before Addy Nava's kill took Burlington Central to match point.
"Last year was a big battle and this year same thing," Rockets coach Sam Mainzer said. "We knew they were scrappy and they made some great plays. Jacey gives us trouble, she gets up over the block. It was good to come through in the third set aginast a good team. It can be real confidence-booster."
Nava, Rachel Burton and Hoffman combined for 19 kills for the Rockets while Gabrielle Peter was second to Lambert on Hampshire with 7 kills.
Benenhaley said it took his team awhile to adjust to some changes he made in the lineup, but he liked the way they responded in the final two sets.
"They were a little nervous at first," Benenhaley said. "The talking was not there and the score reflected that. Going to the second and third they knew what to do and were moving well."