Girls volleyball: Geneva finishes strong vs. Batavia
Geneva's focus has been simple in the last number of weeks: finishing a game and progressing.
The Vikings endured an eight-game losing streak that was finally snapped against St. Charles East on Sept. 28. After another two losses entering Tuesday against Batavia, they again were faced with a bounce-back opportunity and delivered one.
"This team has faced quite a bit of adversity. People are coming at us, and they did a really nice job of staying focused, even after game one being down and coming back to win," Geneva coach Lauren Kosecki said following Geneva's 22-25, 25-20, 25-18 victory over Batavia on Tuesday.
Avoiding an emotional roller coaster and staying consistent has been a key teaching point for the young Vikings (6-15,3-2) throughout the turbulent stretch.
"A lot of us haven't played together before, so I think it was just the newness and the new factor that was part of [the tough stretch]," Vikings junior outside hitter Lauren Benson said. "In practice, we were team bonding and just [learning to] trust each other and count on each other. I think that has started to show in our play, when we knew we were here for each other and playing for each other.
" ... I thought tonight, even though we went down and then we'd come back and go down [again], we really tried to stay focused on the end goal. That was the big thing: finish the game. Finish the game," Kosecki continued. "Batavia did a nice job; they've got a lot of nice players. They did some aggressive things that we weren't ready for, but overall, I was very proud how we didn't let one mistake kind become another. We stayed focused."
Benson, who had eight kills Tuesday, has proven to be a steady force all season long.
"Lauren does a great job leading on and off the court," Kosecki said. "She's just a great kid and she comes out there with fire and intensity. That's what this team needs; we need that leadership, especially with a young group. We need her leadership and her being vocal. That was a great game for her."
In the first set, Geneva took a 19-12 lead, but the Bulldogs (13-13, 2-3) ripped off an 8-0 run that was fueled by a series of Vikings attack errors and two kills and a block by Batavia standout Amanda Otten. After another Vikings error, Claire Ellward, Otten and consecutive kills from Grace Regnier propelled Batavia to an unlikely first set victory.
"I feel like we came out flat each of the sets and it's hard. I think we did a really good job of bouncing back that first one and pushing some points; going one-by-one, even when we were down a lot. It's hard to do that three times," Batavia coach McKenna Kelsay said. "I feel like we got down each set and it was like 'hey, it's great we fought back, but we're going to have to do it again [and again]."
After Geneva rebounded to win the second set 25-20, the Vikings continued to settle in for a relatively comfortable third set victory by taking a 18-10 lead. The Bulldogs fought within 20-15 thanks to more attack errors, but three Otten kills late couldn't finish the comeback.
"I thought we needed to take a deep breath and just forget about all the mistakes we made," Benson said on the comeback. We just needed to shake it off and focus on getting that next point. I think that's how we got through; when we got a good pass [making sure we put it] down."
The Vikings also got five kills and a number of key blocks from sophomore middle Charlotte Potvin.
Batavia was led by Otten's seven kills.
" ... Then, when it gets close, we're right there," Kelsay said. "We worked our way back and we've just got to finish."