Batavia’s varsity volleyball team enjoyed its best year in quite awhile.

Rick Eggleton is the head coach of the Bulldogs for his first season after a two-year break from coaching the sport. The two years before that, he had also been mentoring the Green and White.

Batavia was 168-3 overall and 8-2 (second place) in the Southern Buckeye Conference National Division(SBC).

“This season has been a surprise in a way, but I knew at the beginning we had experience, because we had a lot of seniors.”

Eggleton pointed out that among his twelfth graders were players with three and four years of varsity experience.

The varsity program at BHS is going through a major reversal of fortune. Last season the team won less than one-half dozen games.

The Bulldogs’ mentor gives great credit to his charges because ‘they are hard workers and they have jelled together and play well together.”

The man very responsible for the volleyball comeback mentioned several of his players for whom he gives much credit for the incredible improvement – senior setter Sam Heinlein, senior outside hitter Brooke Embry, senior defensive specialist Lexi Lipps, senior middle hitter Maggie Green, and junior middle defender Morgan Fisler.

Eggleton is not the least bit hesitant to praise his entire talented group – senior right side hitter Kristin Trogden, senior defensive specialist Andy Otten, junior outside hitter Kasey Arnett, sophomore right side hitter Paige Martin, and sophomore defensive specialist Brianna Appel.

He said one of his team’s goals was to gain revenge for an earlier season Southern Buckeye loss to arch-rival Williamsburg. A win over the Wildcats would have tied the next-door neighbors for the lead in the National Division of the conference.

“I would have loved to see the seniors come through with a title. I’m going to hate seeing them graduate,” said their coach who the other coaches in the SBC can not express enough happiness about seeing the Bulldog seniors get their diploma.

The Green and White’s head honcho is optimistic about future seasons. He concluded, “We’re working right now through getting the JV (junior varsity ) more experience.”

The Bulldogs who earned berths on the conference all-star team were Embry and Green (first team) and Heinlein and Lipps (second team).