Crystal Lake Central ’s Alexis Hadeler already stood out in a senior-dominated Tigers lineup last season.

Now a senior herself, the 5-foot-8 outside hitter is also showing that she’s capable of taking over matches.

Hadeler did just that Thursday, almost recording a double-double with nine kills, 10 digs and one block as the Tigers snapped a two-match losing skid with a 26-24, 25-19 Fox Valley Conference win over Burlington Central in Crystal Lake.

Hadeler dominated in key stretches for the Tigers, including three straight points in the second set that saw her record a kill, block and kill to put her team ahead 10-5.

In the first set, she had four of her team’s first six points with four kills.

“I’ve been waiting on that from her,” Crystal Lake Central coach Amy Johnson said. “We know she’s capable of it. We believe in her so much, that she can do that pretty much every match. Sometimes her belief kind of wavers a little bit, so we’re working on that.

“I think today showed she was ready to put the team on her back.”

Hadeler was among her team’s offensive leaders last year with 164 kills and 299 digs. Crystal Lake Central graduated eight, leaving Hadeler as the Tigers’ top all-around returner.

Hadeler said the biggest change for her this fall has been mentoring the younger players, including freshmen Jordyn Johnson, Clara Dobbertin and Katie Piech, all starters on Thursday.

“We’re a pretty young team, but they’re doing a good job with keeping up with our pace and everything,” said Hadeler, who earned Northwest Herald All-Area and All-Fox Valley Conference honors last year.

Hadeler’s ability to play all over the court – outside, right side and even as a back-row attacker – makes her difficult to defend.

“She was pretty much unstoppable,” Amy Johnson said of Hadeler’s play Thursday. “And not to mention, her serve receive is the best on the team. So just to have that all-around player and senior presence ... she’s not going to be your rah-rah, foot-stomping, fist-pumping senior, but she’s going to put her head down and go for it.”

Jordyn Johnson, a 5-10 outside hitter and coach’s daughter, made a big impact in her own way, ending the night with seven kills, nine digs and one ace with her top-spin serve.

After Burlington Central (9-5, 3-5) tied the match at 24-all after trailing 24-21 in the first set, Johnson provided the last two points of the set with a pair of booming kills for the Tigers (8-6, 4-4 FVC).

“She’s just super strong, physically,” Coach Johnson said of her daughter. “We’ve had three freshmen on the court, and that’s young. We’ve seen some growing pains with that, and we’ll probably continue to see growing pains, but today all three were super consistent. [Jordyn] may have got the last two [kills], but it took a lot to get there.”

Senior Tessa Popp had 12 digs for the Tigers, while Piech had 10 assists and three kills.

For Burlington Central, senior outside hitter Haidyn Schatz had nine kills and 12 digs, junior middle blocker Ainsley Wilson posted six kills and junior setter Tiernan Naus had nine assists and six digs. Senior Peyton Strout added three kills and two aces and freshman Joselyn Johnson had 12 digs to lead the defense.

Schatz took over late for the Rockets in the first set, scoring the 22nd, 23rd and 24th points to bring her team all the way back. She finished the first set with six kills.

In the second set, it was Wilson who scored three consecutive points to cut Crystal Lake Central’s lead to 19-17.

“Haidyn and Ainsley were both clutch in this game,” Rockets coach Julia Smagacz said. “They have been point scorers for us this season, so that’s kind of par for the course. Definitely in that first set, Haidyn showed her maturity, her experience and her leadership as a captain. She’s not afraid to go swing at hands when we’re down by two and they have match point.”

Burlington Central was coming off a first-place finish at the West Chicago Tournament over the weekend. Smagacz, however, felt her side didn’t go all out Thursday.

“I think we needed to work a little harder,” Smagacz said. “I told them, we can’t have one person flying to the floor and going for the ball, and have two other people not do that. The standard needs to be set. One person’s flying to the floor, everyone has to be flying to the floor.”

Jordyn Johnson said the Tigers feel good about where they’re headed.

“I think we’ve cleaned up our side a lot,” she said. “At the beginning [of the season], we were very chaotic. I feel like we’re playing much more confident and calmer now.”