Defense sparks Batavia in Game 3

Trailing by as many as 6 points midway in the decisive third game, Batavia's volleyball team showed its resilience Tuesday night.

The gritty Bulldogs (4-5, 2-1) also displayed sacrifice-your-body defense and strong serving down the stretch to pull out a 25-12, 18-25, 25-22 victory over Western Sun Conference opponent Glenbard South (5-5, 1-2) in Batavia.

Back-to-back diving digs from Melissa Norville and Taylor Koncelik helped pull the Bulldogs within 17-16 before the hosts drew even at 20-20 thanks to a Glenbard South serve receive error.

After junior outside hitter Darah Preston recorded the last of her match-high 11 kills to put the Raiders back on top 21-20, the Bulldogs grabbed their first lead at 22-21 thanks to a strong serve from Norville, and then sealed the decision moments later on an ace from senior Danica Johnson.

"I think the main reason why we were able to finish it off was because our serving became a lot more assertive toward the end of the third game," said Batavia senior Kristin Hoffman, who finished with 17 assists in her first match at the setter position.

Batavia coach Lori Trippi-Payne was equally pleased with her team's defensive effort, especially late in the match.

"We made a couple of great digs and that fired up the team," said Trippi-Payne. "And then we started getting some more blocks."

The Bulldogs capitalized on numerous Glenbard South mistakes in Game 1 before having the tables turned on them in Game 2.

"We just were fortunate that they were struggling so much with their passing," said Trippi-Payne. "But once Glenbard started putting some things together, we struggled because defensively we weren't picking up some balls."

Laura Doolin added a team-high 7 kills and 3 aces for Batavia, while Norville and Koncelik contributed 6 digs apiece.

"We're going to get there," said Trippi-Payne. "We worked most of the day yesterday on serve receive because we knew that's what we needed to do."

Alicia Engelhardt (17 assists), Kim Schwerdtmann (7 kills), Amanda Fisch (7 kills, 6 blocks) and Victoria Helle (5 blocks) contributed for the Raiders, who hurt their own cause with 4 service errors in the third game.

"Down the stretch, it was mental errors that made the difference," said Raiders coach Sherry Hudson. "We were out of position and we couldn't pass. We had specific assignments defensively that we didn't cover.

"I'm pleased with the fact that at least we came back (in Game 2) with some composure and started playing our type of game. But we have to start believing we can win. We had Geneva on the ropes (in a loss last week) the same way. We have to learn to finish."