Hampshire, coming off a 29-8 season and Class 4A regional championship, was excited to prove last year’s success wasn’t a fluke Tuesday night against Prairie Ridge.

Led by Illinois-Chicago commit Elizabeth King’s 10 kills, the Whip-Purs made a statement with a 26-24, 25-18 sweep over the Wolves, last season’s 3A third-place finisher.

“I’m excited. I’m so ready. I think this game made a big statement,” said King, a senior outside hitter who also had an ace and block. “Everyone is going to target us, and we’re going to fight right back.

“We’re excited to show what we can do.”

Hampshire (4-0, 3-0 FVC) continued its perfect start to the season, while Prairie Ridge (3-1, 2-1) suffered its first loss. The Whips tied for fourth place in the Fox Valley Conference a year ago.

Prairie Ridge was runner-up, two wins ahead of Hampshire. But nobody is going to overlook a Whips’ team that brought back the majority of last year’s near 30-win squad.

Hampshire, however, won’t look too far ahead.

“As a coach, I’m never happy. Our record shows what we’re able to do at the moment but we’ve got to keep pushing,” Hampshire coach Omar Cortez said.

“I think this team is capable of doing a lot of big things. It’s about keeping them grounded, keeping them hungry and keeping them wanting it and fighting for it. I think they’re out to prove they can do a lot better than last year. They feel like they should have not been in that situation last year, so they’re out to prove it.”

Cortez said the Whips struggled with serving last week, but Tuesday’s performance was a season best. The team committed only one service error. Senior Katelyn Petterson posted three of the team’s five aces, including the match winner. King and senior Kylie Lambert (Arkansas Tech commit) each had one.

“That felt amazing,” Petterson (six kills) said of her third and last ace. “We knew it was going to be great competition from both teams. ... To serve that and bring it home, it felt great.”

Hampshire and Prairie Ridge were tied 12 times in the opening set, with the Whips holding on after going up 22-17. Wolves sophomore Lauren Bruce had a kill and two aces late in the first set. Missouri commit Maizy Agnello (seven kills) tied the match at 24 with a kill, but Hampshire came through with the final two points on a Lambert dump set and a King kill.

Lambert, the team’s starting setter who had 12 assists, tied Petterson for second on the team with six kills. All six came on dumps.

“It’s kind of what they say. You live by the sword and you die by the sword,” Cortez said. “She’s a very aggressive setter. She’s very offensive-minded. I love it.”

Prairie Ridge, like it did in the first set, made a run at Hampshire in the second after going down 20-13. The Wolves cut the lead to 23-17 on a kill by Agnello, forcing a timeout by the Whips. But the next point for Prairie Ridge sailed long and Petterson ended the match with an ace.

Prairie Ridge first-year coach Leah Groat felt her team showed plenty of fight after falling behind in both sets.

“They’re scrappy, they’ve obviously played together for several years,” Groat said of Hampshire. “They’ve got really talented hitters ... and they didn’t get down on themselves and rebounded real well. But I was extremely proud of our girls when we were down by six or seven points, we kept chipping away and chipping away.

“Now we need to get to the point where we can come back and pull ahead.”

Groat said seniors Abby Smith (Adelphi commit) and Addi Smith (Purdue Northwest University) and sophomore Lauren Bruce (three kills, two aces) stood out Tuesday.

“I think Abby Smith did a real nice job. We had to mix up our hitting a little bit, and she came through with a couple of key points,” Groat said. “Lauren Bruce at the line did a nice job at the end of that first set. I think Addi Smith always shows poise and maturity and she runs our offense well. We’re in good hands when she’s setting for us.”

Cortez said junior libero Peyton Wurtz (12 digs) stood out defensively on his side. King had a key block of Agnello in the second set.

“She stood in there, took a couple of hard-driven balls,” Cortez said of Wurtz. “It’s not easy sitting under some of those hits.”