Vikings polish off perfect WSC season

Geneva's Lauren Wicinski goes up for a spike during Thursday night's match against Batavia. Donnell collins / for the Beacon News

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GENEVA -- Geneva's girls volleyball team has nine seniors on the roster this season, and the Vikings entered Thursday's Western Sun Conference finale, and senior night, with a perfect WSC record.

One of those seniors, Lauren Wicinski, made sure the WSC season was capped off right.

The Vikings dominated rival Batavia 25-15, 25-13 to finish a sparkling 14-0 in the league and take a 28-2 record into this weekend's Kaneland Tournament, the last stop before regionals next week.

Wicinski was thoroughly dominant, leading the team with nine kills, seven aces and four blocks.

"That's the most fans we've ever had," she said. "It was really nice. Emotional obviously because it was senior night, but we pushed through it. It was just exciting to be out there and know we've come so far and this is where we are. This was great."

Game 1 was a back-and-forth affair until Kelsey Augustine's kill got the serve to Wicinski. She served eight straight points, including three straight aces at one point, to lead the Vikings to the 25-15 win.

Batavia (20-14-1, 8-6 WSC) led early in Game 2, 5-4, before the Vikings' front line went on a dominant spree to take control. Seven straight points came on the attack for Geneva, led by three kills and a block from Wicinski. Katie Sommer added two kills and Alexa Sommer one in that stretch, which built an 11-5 lead. Later in the set, Wicinski had another three-ace streak that pushed the lead to 19-10.

"You've got to give Lauren Wicinski a lot of credit," Batavia coach Lori Trippi-Payne said. "She's such a good server. She finds the holes and she goes after things. She elevates her level. It's very obvious she wants the ball. They set her on the back row. You've got to give them credit. Geneva played real well tonight and you have to give them credit for that."

One of the more touching aspects of the evening on the Geneva side was the season debut of senior setter Megan Odenthal. Odenthal underwent surgery for a torn knee ligament on July 8 and missed the entire season. But to start the second game, Odenthal, with a brace on her knee, made the first two serves, both Geneva points, in her first action of the season. She notched an assist on the second point on an Alexa Sommer kill.

"Senior night has always been a huge tradition that I really revered when I saw my sisters go through it," Odenthal said. "This is really special that (Vikings coach K.C. Johnsen) lets all the seniors play on senior night. I wanted to be no different.

"It's not how I envisioned my senior night going, but it's special. It's definitely meaningful to me. I had to stop myself from crying on the end line because I heard my parents and the crowd and my teammates. To feel so supported like that was amazing. I love them all so much."