A. Christian falls; Indian Creek takes title

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AURORA -- There is no other way to explain the valiant effort put forth by Aurora Christian girls volleyball team than to conclude that the Eagles simply did not want their season to end.

Facing a powerful and extremely talented Hampshire squad, Aurora Christian led most of the second game. But the Eagles could not hold off the top-seeded Whip-Purs, who captured the Aurora Christian Class 2A Regional title with a 25-12, 25-21 victory.

"I was really proud of the way we turned it around after the first game in which we didn't do a whole lot," said Aurora Christian coach Nicole Andersen. "We took a team as strong as Hampshire and were able to throw the ball back in their face a little bit. I was proud of the way the front line played."

Hampshire will take its glittering 33-3 record to next Monday's Byron Sectional, with the goal of getting to the state tournament. The Whip-Purs got to the regional championship game by dominating No. 8 Plano 25-7, 25-13. AC, seeded sixth, advanced with a mild upset of No. 4 Woodlands Academy 25-22, 25-12.

The Whip-Purs have a pair of high-rising outside hitters, Amy Wehrs and Jena Karkos, who were able to elevate and hit over the Eagle blocks. Karkos led an 8-1 burst in the opener which gave Hampshire a 16-6 cushion. During that stretch the senior, who had 12 kills for the match, exhibited power and touch with two kills and two dinks.

But Aurora Christian showed no sign of being intimidated and tightened up its defense in the second game. Helped by some rare loose play by Hampshire and a pair of blocks by sophomore Ashley Ilseman, the Eagles got off to a 7-2 lead and managed to stem the Whip-Pur onslaught thanks to Ilseman and Tara Thomalla, one of two seniors on the AC team. Amanda Beebe also played solid defense from the libero position.

Aurora Christian, which finished 18-16 on the season, led 18-14, but kills by Wehrs, Karkos, and Jaclyn Chai sparked the match-ending 11-3 Hampshire run.

Thomalla led the Eagles with seven digs and five kills. Ilseman and Chelsea Cooper each had four blocks.

"Definitely give credit to Aurora Christian -- they played an unbelievable second game," said Hampshire coach Karen Whitehouse, who admitted to being a little nervous with the way the game was going. "But our girls are having too much fun right now to have their season end."

The Eagles broke a 22-all tie to defeat Woodlands Academy in the first game of the semifinal. Rachel Mertens scored on a dink, Shannah Morris hit off a block, and the Wildcats committed a passing error to seal the verdict. Aurora Christian broke the second game open by scoring nine straight points, led by Ilseman, Stef Sterling, and Martens.

Plano (4-26) had to settle for small victories against a superior Hampshire squad in the first match. The Reapers actually led 4-2 in the second game after back-to-back aces by Nora Ocon (seven digs), and trailed only 6-5. But from that point Wehrs, only a sophomore, got hot with five kills to wrap up the match. There was nothing subtle about any of the kills by Wehrs and Karkos on this night.

"I knew what we were going to be up against," said Plano coach Lisa Esmond. "But the cool thing is that the girls didn't know, so they didn't play scared. One day hopefully we'll be where Hampshire is."

That may well be on the road to a state championship.

Putnam County Class A Regional -- After defeating LaMoille in the semifinals (25-16, 25-21), Indian Creek wrapped up the regional title with a 24-26, 26-24, 25-20 win over host Putnam County. Bree Flach led the Timberwolves (21-11) with nine points, seven aces, 26 digs and 24 kills in the two matches, while Sammy Wong had 12 points, 14 digs and 10 kills and Kim Russell added nine digs and 26 assists. Girls Regional Volleyball Roundup