Eagles drop first set, come roaring back to earn spot in regional final

One of the reasons Kara Coffman is such a successful volleyball coach is that she has the ability to turn just about anything into a positive. So, when her Avon squad blew a 12-4 lead Thursday night in the first set of its regional semifinal matchup at Streetsboro High School with Southwestern Conference foe Amherst—a team that the Eagles swept twice during the regular season—and eventually dropped the set by the score of 25-23, Coffman worked her magic and managed to use the shocking turnaround to her team’s advantage. “We definitely learned in that first set, and that’s what we kept emphasizing in the second set,” said Coffman. “When we were in similar situations, we fixed it. So, it was good that we lost the first set because we learned a lot. Every time we lose a set, that’s just going to help prepare us for the next round.” Sure enough, Avon did turn it back around, sweeping the next three sets by the scores of 25-14, 25-17 and 25-16 to earn a berth in the regional final Saturday. The 24-1 Eagles will face Wadsworth in the regional final at 11 a.m. Saturday at Streetsboro. Wadsworth, which joined Avon last year in the Division II Final Four before losing a semifinal match to eventual state champion Cincinnati St. Ursula Academy, defeated Twinsburg in their regional semi, 25-16, 25-9, 25-15. But while Coffman viewed the dropped set as a learning opportunity, versatile senior Lily Hamilton had a slightly different view. “Honestly, I think losing that first set was a good wakeup call for me,” said Hamilton. “Any of these matches could be my last, and I don’t want that. So, I went out there, and I gave it my all. My teammates are all playing for the seniors, and it showed in the last three sets.” As has been the case all season, the seniors led the way for the Eagles, topped by Hamilton with 17 kills, 27 assists, 19 digs and three blocks. Londyn Stone added 16 kills, 15 digs and one ace, and Bethany Sherwood had 13 kills and two blocks. Avon also got strong play off the bench from junior Peyton Reinart with a team-high six blocks and three kills, and sophomore Julia Majerus with four blocks and four kills. But in this match, it was Hamilton who set the tone. “I think she’s the rock of our team, for sure,” said Coffman. “She’s always reliable, even-keeled. She’s a great, great asset.” In fact, it was an adjustment involving Hamilton that helped Avon turn around the match. The Ashland commit never leaves the floor, sometimes filling the role as the setter and sometimes as a hitter. Early in the match, Hamilton was too much the former and not enough the latter. “I think that was a big difference in the first set,” said Coffman. “We didn’t set Lily enough. We were kind of trying different things on serve receive, and then we stopped doing the one thing on serve receive where she would set instead of hit. I was like, ‘We need her to put the ball away.’ She definitely stood out tonight.” The opening set began well enough for the Eagles, who jumped to leads of 4-1, 10-3 and 12-4. But then Amherst went on a 9-1 run to tie the score at 13, and the set was a tight battle the rest of the way. Avon held a 23-21 lead, but the Comets scored the final four points of the set with the last three coming on consecutive kills by Kendal Dobbins, who led all players with 18 kills. “We knew coming in that they were going to give it their all,” said Hamilton. “You know, we beat them twice in the regular season, but they were not going to just roll over and give this to us. And it showed. They came out, they played very well, and it challenged us. I think that’s very good for us. I’m very proud of our team for going out there and just fixing our errors from the first set—learning from them and coming out and just finishing it.” The next three sets were somewhat anticlimactic, as Avon never trailed in the second and third sets and then fell behind, 5-1, in the third before roaring back with a 16-4 run to take a 17-9 lead. The difference in the last three sets? That’s easy, according to Coffman. “I think we really cleaned up our serve receive, which helped us run our offense,” she said. “When we were able to run our offense, they couldn’t really stop us. I definitely think that we got a little too comfortable (in the first set). We had a big lead, and then we got stuck in a couple rotations. But I’m grateful that that happened, because now we have a couple rotations that we really need to work on.”