Down by a set, Eagles respond to edge Olmsted Falls in five

In a season where a lot has gone right for the Avon volleyball team, the Eagles faced some unprecedented adversity Thursday yet managed to pull out a thrilling five-set victory on the road at Southwestern Conference foe Olmsted Falls. Having only lost two sets in winning their first 12 matches, the Eagles found themselves behind, two sets to one, in a back-and-forth match between two of the top Division II teams in the state. Avon is ranked third this week in the state coaches poll, and the Bulldogs are ranked sixth. But the veterans stepped up on the court and spoke up during a team huddle prior to the crucial fourth set, and Avon came back to win by the scores of 25-16, 19-25, 24-26, 25-16, 15-11. The Eagles are now 13-0 overall and 9-0 in SWC action, while Olmsted Falls drops to 9-3 and 7-2. “We went to five in this gym again, like we did last year,” said coach Kara Coffman. “It feels good to win in another team’s gym, especially the team that is right behind us in line for the conference title. I just kept telling them, ‘We need to defend our conference title.’” Avon cruised through the first set, led by Lily Hamilton’s seven kills. But things turned around quickly with the hosts easily winning the second set and then pulling out the tightly-contested third. Both teams had chances to serve for the set, and the Bulldogs finally prevailed on an ace by Maya Awad. “First of all, it was a good learning lesson for us, especially since they came with so much energy in the second and third sets,” said middle hitter Bethany Sherwood, who stood out with 13 kills and nine blocks. “It really caught us off guard and put us down two sets to one. So, I feel like it was good that we were able to bounce back and recognize that we needed to make a change, especially in our energy and our confidence.” A big part of making that change was the leadership demonstrated by the team’s seniors. “We definitely talk about our leaders on this team stepping up to be able to push our team to go further,” said Londyn Stone, who led the Eagles with 15 kills. “The second and third sets were definitely not our sets. We didn’t look like our team. That wasn’t how we’ve been performing, how we’ve been practicing. So, we got in the huddle, and we said, ‘We beat ourselves in those sets. We are coming out no matter what and having 100% energy. We’re going to keep trying and never give up.’” Coffman specifically gave credit to Hamilton, who finished with 25 assists, 13 kills, 11 digs and 3 aces. “Lily stepped up in the huddle and said, ‘We’ve worked way too hard to lose this match,’” said Coffman. “And I think everybody was like, ‘Wait, you’re right, why are we doing this?’ And then they snapped out of it, and we just pushed through.” The fourth set was the Bethany Sherwood show, as the senior 6-footer dominated play at the net with five clean blocks for winners. The first two points of the set were won on consecutive blocks by Sherwood as the Eagles raced to a 10-3 lead and were never headed. “We were just talking about this as coaches,” said Coffman. “She’s one of the best blockers we’ve ever seen or coached. She’s amazing. Her technique is great. She blocks the ball straight down. They’re a very good defensive team, but they were not able to defend her block.” The entire match was highlighted by excellent defense by both teams, especially at the net. “Both teams’ blocking was insane this match,” said Sherwood. “I feel, personally as a middle hitter, that I couldn’t get a single thing across the net that wasn’t a tip because their blocking was just there in my face the entire time. With our blocking, I feel the pins were setting up the block at the right spot, and I was able to just close and push over. It was good teamwork on all of our parts. I feel like our connection, especially for blocking, was really good.” Avon took a 4-2 lead to open the concluding set, but Olmsted Falls battled back to tie the score at 10 when a violation was called against Avon. But Sherwood continued her dominant play for the remainder of the set with three kills and a block winner as the Eagles went on a 5-1 run to end the match. The winning point was scored by Kaitlyn Pojman, who put away a dig that was over-hit by the Bulldogs. “We knew coming into this match that this was going to be a tough match,” said Stone. “The second round is always the toughest round. And we knew they were going to give us their best. Obviously, going into a fifth set is not something we hope for, but it definitely gives us good experience for the rest of the season, especially going into tournament play.” Next up for the Eagles is a home match against Berea-Midpark on September 23.