Rockets net outright BNCE championship

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BURLINGTON -- There was plenty to celebrate Wednesday on a festive night at Burlington Central.

On the same evening the school honored its senior volleyball players and held a Volley for the Cure of Breast Cancer fund-raiser, the Rockets captured their second straight outright Big Northern Conference East Division title with a 25-16, 25-9 win over Richmond-Burton.

Junior Stephanie Holthus had 13 kills to lead the Rockets' attack.

"I'm really proud of what we've been able to accomplish over the past two seasons," said Central coach Marv Leavitt. "We didn't start out as a dominant program a few years ago, but now we're considered one of the best teams in the area. Having talented players that work hard has a lot to do with that."

The Rockets' three seniors have played a significant role in the turnaround of the Central program, and they also played a key role in the Rockets' win on Wednesday.

Molly Turk had five kills and 22 assists, Meghan Zasada contributed three kills and three aces while Emily Moxness added three kills and four digs.

"We have three strong seniors who have contributed a lot to our program," said Leavitt. "They are winners. They are great leaders not only on the court, but they also do a great job of bringing the team together off the court."

The Rockets (24-5, 9-0) went on an 11-2 run early in Game 1 to pull ahead 15-5. Turk set the tone like she so often has during her career at Central by feeding three assists each to Audrey Djukic and Taylor Scully during the run.

"It's really a great night for us seniors," said Turk. "We were kind of the underdogs coming into the season. "

"A lot of people doubted us at the beginning of the year because we lost so many seniors last year, but we set a goal to come back and win the conference again and it feels great to be able to reach that goal, " Turk sid.

Zasada continued to play a strong supporting role to Holthus and Turk. She had an ace and a big kill early in Game 2, as the Rockets pulled out to an early lead and never looked back.

"It's been such an honor to be a part of this team," said Zasada. "It's all happened so fast, it's almost sad it's close to ending. But we're really proud of what we've accomplished. There has just been a total dedication by the players and the coaching staff."