Senior outside hitter Leah Freesemann was ready to ramp things up for Burlington Central.
After Tuesday’s deflating loss to Prairie Ridge, the Rockets were looking to shake things up Thursday night against Hampshire, and the 6-foot-2 Freesemann wanted to turn up the heat.
The Campbell recruit usually only plays three rotations up front and takes a seat.
“I’ve always wanted to be a six-rotation player,” Freesemann said. “When I got the chance. I wanted to put out there what I could do and do what I can do for my team.
“Especially since Hampshire is our rival. It’s a big game.”
Freesemann never left the court and was dominant in a 25-18, 21-25, 25-22 Fox Valley Conference victory. She finished with nine kills, including two coming from the back row.
Emily Maramba added eight kills for Burlington Central (7-2, 6-2) and Haidyn Schatz had seven. Brianna Gritzman chipped in with 22 digs.
Elizabeth King led Hampshire (15-3, 6-2) with nine kills and four aces. Kylie Lambert had 14 assists and Peyton Wurtz ended up with 14 digs.
Freesemann’s versatility gave Burlington Central coach Julia Smagacz precisely the spark the Rockets needed.
“If you looked at this match, you wouldn’t recognize it, but that’s the first time this season we’ve had her play all six rotations and she dominated,” Smagacz said. “A couple of our players were like, ‘What can we try?’
“That was one of the ideas we worked on in practice, and it looked really good. I think it obviously paid off because she was unstoppable (Thursday). She stepped up. I’m so proud of her.”
After cruising to the win in the first game, Burlington Central ran into the lethal topspin serve of King. who served eight straight points with four aces to help Hampshire rally to force a third game.
“With that topspin, she definitely has something that can turn a set around or even a match,” Hampshire coach Omar Cortez said. “She can turn it around quick when she’s hot.”
The Rockets weathered that and pulled away late to pick up the win. Freesemann’s extra workload helped them do that, and it wasn’t lost on Smagacz how Freesemann pulled it off.
“She’s got a very, very strong head on her shoulders,” Smagacz said. “You see her hit and you know that’s a powerhouse player. If she does put pressure on herself, you can’t see it.
“She does a very good job. She’s just an energetic leader, too. She brings her teammates up, and her teammates feed off her energy. It’s such a blessing to have her.”
Freesemann said she grew into the leadership role in the offseason as a captain on her club team at Top Flight. She also had some help from the seniors that preceded her with the Rockets.
“I feel like I’ve stepped into the role that the seniors have left,” Freesemann said. “They’ve taught me a lot. I feel like I’m hopefully a leader to my teammates. I definitely take pride in it.”
Bouncing back with a win at Hampshire was just what Smagacz was hoping for heading into a weekend tournament, also at Hampshire.
“This is a gigantic win for us,” Smagacz said. “I have absolutely nothing but respect for their program. They are so talented. That was huge.”
Looking to next week, Freesemann sees another huge match coming Tuesday with Huntley visiting Rocket Hill. She may just have to pull that extra workload once again for that one.
“I think that’s something that really helped us, being able to have me in all six rotations,” Freesemann said. “We play Huntley soon. That’s another big game like this.
“I feel like that’s something we’ll need against them.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
