AURORA – Lauren Haefer has seen the peaks and valleys that come in any given season.

As a three-year varsity player and captain for Batavia, it's her job to be the steady hand – and voice – on the court.

"I just need to encourage everyone, all my teammates," Haefer said following Batavia's 25-10, 25-14 loss to West Aurora on Wednesday.

"And just tell them: 'This is normal. We're going to have ruts. We're going to have ups-and-downs. Volleyball is a game of mistakes, [but]...don't be discouraged because if we get discouraged, we're not going to see change,'" Haefer continued.

Batavia (6-12, 2-1) dropped its third straight match, dating back to a tough three-set loss to Waubonsie Valley on Sept. 19.

Against Waubonsie Valley in the third set, Batavia took an 8-0 lead, but ultimately lost 25-23.

"We've been playing well all year, and this week, we've had two clunkers [against Wheaton Warrenville South and West Aurora]," Batavia coach Lori Trippi-Payne said. "Since [Waubonsie], we haven't been the same. We're really good, but we're off right now a little bit...we'll figure it out."

Haefer has an idea how.

"I think what's really going to be important for us is hitting the gym tomorrow [and] getting a lot of reps in," said Haefer, who had seven digs, three kills and two blocks.

"I think that's really our problem: we're not playing as a team; we're playing as individuals. Once we start playing as a team, I think we'll start seeing the results we want to see."

Haefer, though, is seeing improvement in her confidence level on the court. She's been able to shake off mistakes and move forward on each passing point, "knowing I'm not going to play perfectly and that's OK."

"Because I'm more confident in myself, I'm more confident to lead my other teammates on the court and help encourage them," Haefer said. "Instead of just focusing on myself."

Junior Kyra Taylor's five kills led Batavia's offense. Kassy Diaz had seven digs.

West Aurora (12-4, 3-0) had no problems controlling the tempo in the first set, jumping out to a 14-8 lead thanks to a combination of Olivia McPherson, Chloey Myers and Kendra Battle – and never looked back.

In the second set, Batavia kept it manageable, tying at 9-9, but attack errors and a tall West Aurora front line made it difficult to mount a comeback.

McPherson had eight kills for the Blackhawks, while Battle had seven kills and Myers had 12 kills to lead West Aurora to victory.

"We were able to keep it balanced, and that's something we've been trying to do all year," West Aurora coach Kevin Mortlock said. "The girls did a nice job communicating on offense, so they knew where exactly they were supposed to go on each play."