Burlington Central falls short of conference

Updated: October 20, 2011 9:22PM

Burlington Central came into Thursday’s visit to Richmond-Burton for a share of the Big Northern East title only one player shy of full strength for the first time since early September.

Against a high-flying Richmond-Burton team and sophomore standout Alexandra Frantti, even full strength might not have been enough. Richmond-Burton dodged a near collapse in the first game and then dominated the second to repeat as undisputed conference champs with a 26-24, 25-15 victory.

“Let’s give them the credit, going through conference undefeated (10-0, 27-7 overall),” Central coach Marv Leavitt said. “They’re a tough team at the net and they served us really strong.”

Frantti had 13 kills on the night while teammate Kimberly Russell had seven, and the 5-foot-11 Frantti made it difficult with her long arms for Central hitters to get more than an occasional spike to the floor.

“She has all kinds of schools pretty much from all around the country interested in her,” Richmond-Burton coach Kaycee Kaywood said.

Burlington Central (21-14, 8-2) needed a win to earn a share of the conference title, but fell behind immediately in the first game 9-2 amid the net onslaught from Frantti and Russell.

Central trailed 22-15 before managing a frantic comeback behind the serving of Karrington Bell and net play of Lexie Bouza, Brenda Thasavong and Sydney Sand. Bouza, Thasavong and Sand had kills and Bell an ace in an 8-0 run that gave the Rockets a 23-22 lead.

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