After making a mistake, Aurora Christian’s Hope Wagner immediately turns the page.
It’s a next-play mindset that has gotten the junior outside hitter to this point of her career.
“I’m definitely hard on myself, but I think that’s why I’ve gotten so much better,” Wagner said after Monday night’s three-game thriller. “I push myself to be the best I can.
“Any time I hit a ball out or miss a serve I’m like, ‘OK, next one.’ I have a next-one mentality.”
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Wagner and the host Eagles needed to embody that mindset to survive a scrappy challenge from Aurora Central Catholic en route to a 25-20, 18-25, 25-15 nonconference victory.
Wagner led all players with 14 kills for Aurora Christian (5-2). Madalynn Johnson added seven kills and Tessa Sepulveda had five. Gabriella Cotto chipped in with six aces.
Abigail Brinka paced Aurora Central Catholic (4-4) with five kills. Ashley Collins had four kills and an ace.
The 6-foot-1 Wagner has worked on being more versatile for this season, and it paid off Monday.
Instead of relying on her big, quick swing on the outside all the time, Wagner focused on getting kills from the back row and strategic placement of tips to make her more dangerous this season.
“That’s been a big focus,” Wagner said. “My setter, Breanna (Hard), has gotten a whole lot better setting the back row. She’s amazing. It helps whether I’m in the front row or the back row.
“I’m able to get kills whenever I can.”
To that end, Wagner had five kills out of the back row Monday.
“I love how, especially in this match, she found the holes,” Aurora Christian coach Mayra Johnson said. “It was not all about the swing. It was about, where am I going to place this tip?
“The opposing team was waiting for her to swing. Same thing with our right side, Tessa. It’s finding the spot because she’s not that quick swinger. She knows where to place that ball.”
Wagner had five kills in the first game as the Eagles trailed 14-13 before pulling away. In the second game, however, ACC used its energy to stay in the match and force a third game. Fifteen points off of Aurora Christian errors helped that momentum keep growing.
“Energy is the thing that we’ve been working on because we are a quiet team this year,” ACC coach Michelle Chavez said. “They need that energy on the court.”
Three straight kills from Wagner, two coming from the back row, helped Aurora Christian straighten things out in the third game and begin to slip away for the win.
“What I told them is we start off strong and continue pushing,” Johnson said. “We don’t stop and we don’t look back.”
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Even with a roster filled with experienced high-level club players, Johnson knows who to turn to in crunch time.
“She’s the one that leads us in kills,” Johnson said of Wagner. “That’s the go-to person when we really need one.
“Hope is a very humble player. She’s very hard on herself, but a very humble player. She learns quickly. She wants to get that kill. She wants to get that pass. She’s been working really hard over the past season and during club season to be that all-around player.”
Wagner is hoping that translates to a special season for Aurora Christian. Wagner wants to lead the Eagles to new heights.
“I am really excited for this season,” Wagner said. “I think we’re going to make it really far and we’re going to make it past regionals. We’re going to win this year.
“We didn’t win the past couple years, but this is our year.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.