Central braces for big test in Sterling Sectional semis

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No team really needs a reason to be excited for a regional title match simply because it's win or go home.

But just in case Burlington Central needed some extra motivation before Saturday's title match of the Sycamore Class 3A Regional, there was that little fact that the Rockets were about to face the same Spartans team that ousted them in the regional title match last year.

With that in mind, Rockets junior Stephanie Holthus wanted to make sure everyone was on the same page before the match began.

"On the way here Steph had a great idea for everyone to come up with reasons to address why we wanted to win so bad," said senior Molly Turk. "Number one up there on the priority list was a little revenge. We really wanted to do it for our seniors last year too because they stopped at the regional championship and we wanted to go farther."

The Rockets got their revenge with a 25-13, 25-21 win over the host and No. 1 seed Spartans. Next up for Central is a showdown with undefeated LaSalle-Peru tonight at 6 p.m. in the semifinal of the Sterling Class 3A Sectional. The Cavaliers, out of the North Central Illinois Conference, moved to 36-0 on Saturday when they beat Rock Island 25-13, 25-11 to claim their own Class 3A title.

"We're playing an undefeated team on Tuesday so it's going to be a big battle for us," said Central coach Marv Leavitt. "It's gonna be a battle every night."

Hampshire also remains alive in Class 3A after beating Rockford East 25-13, 25-18 to win the Belvidere Regional on Saturday. The Whip-Purs (35-2) advanced to the Marian Central Sectional where they will face Crystal Lake Central (33-4) in a semifinal match at 7 p.m. tonight. The Tigers are coming off a 25-23, 24-26, 25-22 regional title win over host Wauconda.

"(Crystal Lake Central) is going to be a tough match," Hampshire coach Karen Whitehouse said. "We played well (against Rockford East), but we still have a little room for improvement. Right now we are playing aggressive and we want to keep going."

After knocking off No. 1 seed Harvard 25-22, 21-25, 25-23 in the title match of St. Edward's own Class 2A regional, the Green Wave (21-18) has a lot of momentum heading into a matchup against Winnebago at 6 tonight in one semifinal at the Forreston Sectional. Winners of nine regional titles in the past 10 years, St. Edward beat two lower-seeds en route to this year's crown.

If everything works out, Jacobs and Huntley could meet for the Prairie Ridge Class 4A Sectional title on Thursday. The Golden Eagles (17-16) posted an upset victory over Cary-Grove (31-6) on Saturday to claim the Dundee-Crown Regional title and face Crystal Lake South (30-7) at 7 tonight.

The Red Raiders (23-14) advanced by beating DeKalb for a regional title and will face Rockford Guilford (21-11) in the night's first semifinal match at 6.

St. Charles East (33-4) also rolled to a regional title on Saturday by beating Willowbrook and advances to face Glenbard East at 6 tonight in the semifinal of the York Class 4A Sectional. High School Volleyball