Batavia cruises by Geneva

Batavia’s roll through the Upstate Eight Conference’s River Division continued Tuesday afternoon in Geneva, as the Bulldogs dominated the Vikings, 6-1.

As has been the case all season long, the Bulldogs turned in impressive performances up and down, and on both halves of the lineup.

“It is an absolute joy to work with these kids,” Batavia coach Brad Nelson said. “Geneva has had our number for a long time, so it’s been nice to turn the tables on them the past two years.”

Batavia seniors Kaitlin Mills and Hannah Potter overcame some rough patches to beat Carly Ausman and Emily Malecha, 6-2, 6-3.

“We didn’t get off to a great start, but we were able to get our heads in the game,” Mills said.

After winning the first set, the Bulldogs’ top duo struggled at the start of the second, before finding their groove.

“We just kept making mistakes, but it’s Geneva, and no matter how many times we play them we’re going to be nervous,” Potter said. “It always takes us a while to get going, so we’ve really focused on starting with the same intensity that we have when we finish.”

Jenny Mizikar and Amelia Cogan had little trouble with Geneva seniors Micheala Simone and Nora Burkhardt, sweeping the No. 2 doubles match, 6-1, 6-0 to improve to 27-1 on the season.

“Batavia has a really good team, but our girls were able to figure it out a little bit and played really well,” Geneva coach Maureen Weiler said.

Despite struggling in most matches, the Vikings (14-7, 4-2) made a habit of adjusting their play after the opening sets, and making Batavia work for every point. That was the case at third doubles, where Batavia’s Karissa Schroeder and Brooke Lefevre made quick work of Kelsey Hess and Margo Hess in the first set, 6-0, only to get beat in the second, 6-4.

“The Hess sisters were able to hang in and they were right there with (Schroeder and Lefevre),” Weiler said.

Schroeder and Lefevre rallied to win the decisive set, 6-1.

The Bulldogs also gutted out a tough win at fourth doubles, where Morgan Hess and Lauren Hermann held on in the second set to beat Joanie Educate and Olivia Block, 6-4, 7-6.

“We won some first sets fairly easily, then we had to claw and scratch,” Nelson said. “Give Geneva credit, they played well and pushed us.”

As she has been doing since the start of her freshman season, just a few weeks ago, Kirby Einck nailed down a win for the Vikings at first singles. This one, her 21st, came against Mirandi Grizaffi, by a score of 6-0, 6-0.

“I wanted to be aggressive and keep her moving around,” Einck said.

Liza Freundt fought off an outstanding effort from determined Geneva senior Stephanie Sharp to win the No. 2 singles match, 6-1, 7-5.

At third singles, Batavia’s Tamar Norville overcame unforced errors to beat a solid performance by freshman Emma Hazel, 6-3, 7-5.

“All that matters is getting the ‘W’, so I had to buckle down and execute my game,” Norville said.

Norville struggled through much of the second set, but managed to break Hazel’s serve to take a 6-5 lead, then closed out the final game.

“She was a strong competitor, so I had to figure out what she was doing and play smart and play my game,” Norville said.

Batavia (18-3, 5-0) will complete a suspended match against St. Charles East Wednesday afternoon. If they can hold on to win the matches that they are already leading, the Bulldogs will go into Saturday’s conference meet with six top seeds.

“We’re taking nothing for granted,” Nelson said. “We’re playing very well right now and the kids are working really hard.”