Burlington Central run ends before it starts

HUNTLEY -- Sycamore came prepared Saturday to stave off an upset attempt by Burlington Central.

Coaches for the top-seeded Spartans volleyball team spent hours studying film of the No. 2 Rockets and the hard work paid off in a 25-22, 25-15 win in the Huntley Class 3A Regional title match.

Sycamore was able to limit Central's offense by holding the Rockets to only four kills from the middle of the court.

Combined with Central's out-of-sync passing, the Rockets' potent offense never got rolling.

"They passed very well and forced us not to pass well," Central coach Marv Leavitt said. "Their serving was very effective. Once we felt the pressure, we started passing even worse.

"We couldn't get a consistent pass. Every pass was off the net. On offense, to give them easy balls, they're too good of a team. Let's give them credit. They beat us fair and square. They're a very good volleyball team."

Central (34-4) enjoyed a lead early in the first game as a kill by Teresa Krog and a handful of hitting errors by Sycamore (35-2) fueled a 5-1 Rockets run to start the match.

The Spartans erased that advantage quickly as Sam Thrower recorded four kills to help Sycamore build a 16-10 advantage.

The Rockets regrouped and would retake the lead at 20-19 on a Stephanie Holthus kill, and still led 22-20 before the Spartans' Lauren Evans stepped to the service line. Evans delivered a pair of balls the Rockets couldn't return and was still holding serve when Diane Kasper tipped the game-deciding kill over the net.

"It's just a matter of some runs," Leavitt said. "They had some runs a couple times on us."

Sycamore never appeared to lose control in Game 2. The Spartans went ahead 6-5 on a kill from Amanda Johnson and would lead the rest of the way.

Central was within two points as late as 9-7 after a big hit from Kim Ingraham, and was still within four at 13-9 after an ace by Meghan Zasada. But Sycamore put the game and the match out of reach with a 10-2 run.

"I'd say our coaches prepared us very well," said Sycamore's Allison Johnson, who had the match-deciding kill. "They did a lot of scouting. They told us what to do and we practiced everything (Central) runs. We just stayed together as a team like we always do. We focused on bringing in the middle of the court."

Sycamore, which has won 31 straight matches, was paced by Evans, who finished with seven kills. Allison Johnson and Thrower each added five, while Justine Schelper had 21 digs.

The Spartans, who beat Kaneland 25-7, 25-13 earlier in the afternoon, advance to the Freeport Sectional. There they'll face another No. 1 seed in host Freeport.

Holthus had seven kills and five digs to lead the Rockets, while Rachael Latham had six kills and Brooke Porto had seven digs. Molly Turk finished with 18 assists.

Central dispatched No. 3 Huntley 25-13, 25-10 in Saturday's regional semifinal. Holthus and Krog each had seven kills in that match, while Porto had seven digs and Turk finished with 25 assists.

Krissy Bergquist had six kills and eight digs for the Red Raiders (13-23), who never found momentum in the season-ending loss.

"(Central) is a good team," Huntley coach Michelle Jakubowski said. "When you dig the ball that first time and don't put it away, the odds of you being able to do it two or three times aren't very good."

Toni Jaehnig had a team-high seven kills for the Red Raiders, while Amanda Carroll finished with 12 assists.