Little plays make difference in Batavia's 3-game win

Batavia knew it wouldn't be that easy.

Scoring the first 10 points of Thursday's match with Glenbard South fostered no ideas of a short night.

The end result was just fine with the Bulldogs, though, turning the tables on Glenbard South's three-game win in Glen Ellyn earlier this season with a 25-11, 23-25, 25-21 win in Batavia.

"We came out strong," Batavia senior Laura Doolin said, "but we knew we were in for a long fight tonight. That last match, that's the first match we lost to them in a long time. We wanted that revenge."

Batavia blitzed Glenbard South with strong serving in the first game. A Kelly Coleman ace made it 9-0, moments later it was 10-0 and Doolin served up 3 aces later in the game. Two Raiders timeouts couldn't quell the tide.

"I didn't see the fire in their eyes before the match," Glenbard South coach Sherry Hudson said. "We looked almost scared. We didn't challenge them.

"Batavia's always been a tough serving team. Always have been, always will be."

Batavia was poised to close out the match in Game 2, up 21-18 and on serve. But Kim Schwerdtmann threw down a kill to pull Glenbard South within 2. She added 3 more kills for good measure, including game point.

In Game 3 Melissa Norville had 2 early kills to put Batavia ahead, and a pair of Norville aces gave the Bulldogs a 9-4 lead they wouldn't relinquish.

"I thought we served great," Batavia coach Lori Trippi-Payne said. "We got a nice lead in Game 3, and we're tough to beat at home."

"We weren't going to lose to Glenbard South at our place," said Doolin, quick to point out that Batavia has not lost a home conference match this season.

Schwerdtmann had 7 kills, Darah Preston 5 kills and Amanda Fisch 5 kills for Glenbard South (12-9, 7-3 Western Sun Conference), which dropped a game behind Batavia into third place in conference.

"It probably started with our serve receive," Hudson said, "and everything broke down from there. Our defense and blocking wast just as poor."

Doolin had 11 kills and Taylor Koncelik 6 kills with a season-high 13 digs, hustle that didn't go un-noticed by her coach. Norville added 4 aces and 3 blocks, Mary Nilles 3 blocks and Katie Rueffer 23 assists for Batavia (17-9, 8-2).

"We had some hustle plays which got us points early in Game 3. I thought we out-hustled them a little there," Trippi-Payne said. "Sometimes it's the little things like that that have a huge impact."