Warriors tip Batavia in marathon match

Maggie Johnson is the leader on Wheaton Academy's girls volleyball team -- and it was easy to see why on Tuesday.

Johnson, a 4-year varsity player, tallied a match-high 15 kills along with 8 digs and 3 aces, leading the Warriors to a 25-21, 24-26, 28-26 nonconference win over Batavia on the road in both teams' first outing of the season.

"It's always on me to show leadership," Johnson said. "It's not just in the tough games. You have to be on every game no matter what. If they look to me to get a kill, I'm OK with that because that's what my job is."

Johnson, an outside hitter, was fierce in the crucial Game 3. With Batavia leading 24-23, she recorded a kill that tied the game at 24, which was the 10th knot of the game.

Johnson would continue with two more kills that pushed the Warriors ahead, and served the final point of Game 3 before a kill from Molly McCoy capped the match.

"She can do everything," Batavia coach Lori Trippi-Payne said of Johnson. "She was almost more dangerous in the back row. We had a really hard time with her, and that's what happened last year too. We couldn't stop her when she was in the back row."

Wheaton Academy (1-0) led the majority of Game 3. Batavia (0-1) led twice -- 24-23 after Kristin Hoffman's kill (one of her 10 total) and 25-24 after a Taylor Koncelik kill.

"That last game was really up for grabs," Wheaton Academy coach D.A. Nichols said. "I'm glad we came out with the win, obviously."

Game 1 was all Wheaton Academy, as it led the entire way and at one point by as much as 20-9 after a Batavia hitting error.

The Bulldogs fired back and was able to cut the deficit to two points twice, but the Warriors capped Game 1 by scoring the final 3 points, all on Batavia errors.

Game 2 belonged to Batavia, but like the Bulldogs in Game 1, Wheaton Academy made a run toward the end.

The Bulldogs broke a 24-24 tie and took Game 2 for good after a Melissa Norville kill and a game-ending ace from Laura Doolin (18 assists).

"In Game 1, we gave them such a lead, we outscored them in the second half of that game, and the momentum was in our direction," Trippi-Payne said. "We were not playing the way we could in the first game…that second game was more in our direction."