BC, SCE face tough tests

Hampshire senior guard James Goebbert and the Whip-Purs have a big weekend on tap with two Big Northern Conference East Division games.
SHAUNA BITTLE | Staff Photographer

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NORMAL -- Two-for-three isn't bad.

Friday was a memorable day for the area's State Finals volleyball qualifiers.

Both Burlington Central and St. Charles East advanced to today's championship matches in Class 3A and 4A, respectively.

Only St. Edward, making its second appearance Downstate in program history, failed to escape with a win after dropping a heartbreaker in the Class 2A state semifinals to Freeburg.

But it won't be easy for either Central or East.

The Rockets, in the midst of their first-ever State Finals trip, get to play talented Joliet Catholic at 5:30 here at Redbird Arena in Normal. Central is in search of the first state team title in school history. The boys track team placed second in 2001.

The Saints will challenge Benet, which features six Division I-bound seniors, at 7:45 p.m. in the final match of the season for all classes.

But as any sports fan knows, anything can happen.

"We didn't envision this happening at the beginning of the season," said Central coach Marv Leavitt, who picked up career victory No. 532 on Friday. "Maybe in the last couple of weeks we started to realize it was a possibility."

At least Leavitt's Rockets (35-6) will have a little bit of familiarity on their side facing the Angels (38-3). Joliet Catholic needed three games to turn back Central in the first week of the season.

Once again, however, the undersized Rockets figure to be heavy underdogs. JCA's only losses this season came to Benet, which it later avenged, Mother McAuley and a squad from Tampa, Fla. Benet and Mother McAuley were both Class 4A semifinalists this season.

"We did play them earlier in the year. They have come a long way since then, but I think we have come a long way since then too," said Angels coach Christine Scheibe, who has been at the helm for four of the school's seven State Finals qualifying teams. "I was talking with (Leavitt) earlier in the year and I told him we won state in 2003 with a smaller lineup because he was worried about a smaller lineup. So yesterday at practice I was joking with him I only meant that if they weren't playing us.

"I guess we'll see how it turns out."

The Rockets are led by senior Molly Turk and junior Stephanie Holthus, who both had huge games on Friday. Holthus registered 17 kills, while Turk had 18 assists. Senior Meghan Zasada and junior Taylor Scully, among others, also played big roles.

"We just got on a roll and we are looking to continue on that right now," Leavitt said. "We played Joliet earlier. It went three games, but they play a really tough schedule. No matter what, it is going to be a tough match."

St. Charles East (37-4) also figures to enter today's match as a decided underdog. Benet, which survived a thrilling three-game affair against Mother McAuley in the semis, enters ranked No. 9 nationally (prepvolleyball.com) and sports a 40-1 record.

Its only loss was to Joliet Catholic.

"(Today) is a different type of game," Kull said. "We have seen them play and we know they are very, very good. I just hope for these girls we come out a little more relaxed and we'll have a little more fun.

"Our season is going to end tomorrow, so no matter what, I would like for it to end on a high note. That's the most important thing to me."

East rode the hot-hitting of senior Haley Streich (11 kills) and junior Caroline Niski (10 kills) to its semifinal victory over Evanston.

Senior Laura Homann (31 assists), junior Jacqui Seidel (7 kills, 11 digs) and freshman Meghan Niski (7 kills) also provided big moments.