Eagles roll into volleyball district final with sweep of Akron Firestone

Avon made quick work of Akron Firestone Monday, rolling past the Vikings in a Division II volleyball district semifinal at Avon. The sixth-seeded Eagles won, 25-7, 25-8, 25-6 to move to 14-9 on the season and reach Wednesday’s district final.

Peyton Reinart and Addy Smith led the way for Avon with eight kills apiece. Smith, a junior, added five digs. Freshman Maryn Maxey had seven digs and six aces for the Eagles, while Lauren Bauer had 13 assists and four aces and Ava Jenkins had four aces.

The match gave coach Kara Stergiou the opportunity to use most of the roster, as only three Avon players appeared in all three sets. The Eagles had six players with at least four kills, and six players contributed at least one ace to the team’s total of 18.

Next up for the defending state champions is a district final match at 5 p.m. Wednesday at Medina against familiar foe North Ridgeville, the 18th seed. The Rangers won the other semifinal at Avon, taking down North Royalton in four sets.

This will be the third meeting of the season for the Southwestern Conference rivals, with Avon winning both during the regular season. However, despite the fact that North Ridgeville finished seventh in the SWC standings to Avon’s second place, both matches were very close and went to five sets. In both matches, the Eagles were down two sets to one and had to win the final two sets to take the victory.