Batavia Varsity Girls Volleyball beat Geneva in their quarterfinal sectional matchup 25-9, 28-26 and 25-13.
Batavia senior Madison McCulley had one ace and 10 assists to set up her teammates -- senior Tessa Engle with four kills, junior Maria Canzoneri with three kills.
“Maddie McCulley was setting wonderfully, making smart choices and really distributing the balls well," said Head Coach Jeremy Mettler.
Photo above is senior Madision Swiatowy watching her teammate junior Maria Canzoneri with a kill in the second set.
Freshman Ryann Stefaniak, with two kills and two aces, contributed to the 25-9 win in the first set.
The second set Geneva took an early lead coming out serving 10 to five and Batavia took a timeout.
Mettler said, “We need to relax and run our system. Our system is very good. Let’s get Maddie setting up Tessa and Taylor on the outside, but it starts with the pass."
Batavia bounced back taking a 15 to 12 lead and Geneva took a time out. The set went back and forth, exchanging leads and ties through most of the set.
Senior Tessa Engle added some digs and kills along with Courtney Burns (with a dig pictured below) and Meghan Swiatowy who served to win a few points to tie it up 24 apiece. Timeout was called.
Mettler said, "We need to put the ball in play and hit our targets. We did it in game one and we can do it in game two."
He emphasized that, "we need to play fundamental volleyball and let’s show them what we can do."
To win a set it has to be by two points, but each team tied and exchanged leads while missing serves until Batavia edged them 28-26, which was the highest scoring set the Blue Devils had this season.
The third and eventually last set started out where both teams exchanged leads and ties. At six to six, Junior Courtney Burns had a spike to bring Tessa Engle up to serve and she did.
Tessa served to win the next eight points for the Devils to take charge of the third set. Geneva gained a point or two, but Meghan Swiatowy added another four, which brought the lead to 21-9.
Mettler started to pull his starters off the court and Batavia won 25-13.
Highlights for both teams:
Batavia:
Engle – Four aces, eleven digs, 10 kills
McCulley – One ace, four digs, three kills and over 30-plus assists.
Canzoneri – One block, three kills
Meghan Swiatowy – Two aces, two digs
Ryann Stefaniak -- Two aces, three digs, two kills
Taylor Stefaniak – Five digs, eight kills, one block
Maddie Swiatowy -- 13 digs, one kill
Geneva:
Guinan – Two aces, one block, four kills
Legoth – 12 digs, two aces
Maher – One ace, two blocks, five kills
Next sectional game for Batavia is the Semifinals at Gates Chili High School on Tuesday vs. Aquinas at 5:30 p.m.
For more photos go to:
