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Centerville volleyball fights back in tough battle

Centerville rebounds in battle of top two ranked teams in D-I, D-II.

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By John Cummings, Contributing Writer 9:57 PM Saturday, October 1, 2011

CENTERVILLE — Sitting on match point, as teammate Maggie Schutter prepared to serve, Centerville senior outside hitter Sarah Burtenshaw made a promise to setter Baylee Johnson.

“I told Baylee while we were waiting for the serve that if she set me, I would put it on the ground,” Burtenshaw said after the Elks defeated Alter 25-23, 25-17, 18-25, 20-25, 15-12 in a showdown between the top two ranked teams in Division I and II. “No one was going to touch it.”

Burtenshaw took the set from Johnson, swung around the block and found nothing but floor to set off a wild celebration.

The Elks looked like they were going to sweep the top-ranked Knights, jumping out to a 2-0 lead, but Alter took the next two games behind thunderous kills by senior Megan Courtney to force a fifth game.

“Their secondary players stepped up and did well and did some key things,” Alter coach Tina Jasinowski said. “We didn’t execute the first two sets and we gave them some confidence and momentum. Had we executed the way we did in the third and fourth sets, I think we would have taken the confidence from them.”

The fifth game saw five ties and six lead changes, with the last coming when Centerville took a 12-11 lead on a service error. Alter got the serve back at 12-13, but Allee Johnson’s tip found the floor to put the Elks at match point.

“My heart started thumping a little faster when we went to the fifth game, but I had to keep the girls composed,” Centerville coach Chris Conner said after winning in his first attempt against the Knights. “The fifth game is a fight to the end ... (at 12-11) I told them we needed three big points. If we lose the first one, then fight for the next one, and we made it happen.”

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