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Burlington Central takes down Streamwood
Updated: September 6, 2011 9:32PM
It’s been a struggle for Burlington Central to get used to playing without its All-Area setter Kaitlyn O’Reilly, but things may finally be falling into place.
Kaitlyn’s younger sister Allie O’Reilly is filling in for her sibling, who suffered a knee injury and is expected to miss up to six weeks. On Tuesday night, Allie turned in arguably her best performance since taking over the setter position with 15 assists and three kills to lead the Rockets to a 25-10, 25-22 win over visiting Streamwood in non-conference action.
“We are trying to adapt the best we can,” said Central coach Marv Leavitt. “Not only is everybody getting used to a new setter, but Allie is getting used to a new position. She is not a setter by trade. She usually is our defensive specialist, but she has really stepped up to help the team out. She’s put in a lot of work in a short period of time to learn the position and she’s getting better every game. She brings a lot of leadership and toughness. She played real well tonight.”
The Rockets (4-6) looked sharp in game one, connecting on 12-of-15 kill attempts. The Rockets only had four other unforced errors.
“That was one of our goals coming in was to limit the mistakes,” said Leavitt. “I thought we played with much more efficiency.”
Allie O’Reilly got the Rockets going right from the start with a pair of aces to start the match. Central never trailed the rest of the way and closed the game out on a 10-1 run. Lexi Bousa and Sydney Sand each had three kills in game one to lead the Rockets.
Central jumped out to a 17-7 lead in game two before Streamwood staged a late rally. The Sabres first went on a 6-2 run to trim the lead to 19-14. Then later scored four points in a row and pulled to within 23-21 on a block kill by Hannah McGlone. However, that was as close as the Sabres could get. Lauren Peltonen eventually closed out the match with a kill.
The Sabres (2-7) were plagued by 11 unforced errors in the first game but played much better in the second game.
“We were really able to cut down on our mistakes by just simply keeping the ball in play,” said Streamwood coach Lisa Vazzana. “We weren’t missing as many serves and were going after the ball a lot more aggressively. We are still putting the pieces together, but I see some good signs.”
McGlone led the Sabres with three kills and two blocks. Liz Simonelli had 16 digs. Brittany Kemp added two kills and four assists.
Brenda Thasavong led the Rockets with five kills. Sand had four kills and two aces. Sam Bohne added 18 digs and was 8-for-8 on serve receives.
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