High school volleyball: Avon dominates Avon Lake to stay perfect in SWC

AVON LAKE — Strong serving and strong defense are a lethal combination. Avon rode both to breakaway runs in the first two games of its 25-7, 25-8, 25-17 win over Avon Lake on Thursday night, keeping its perfect Southwestern Conference record alive in the process. "We know that Lake is a very good team," said Avon junior Lily Hamilton, who finished with seven kills, eight digs, three blocks and two aces. "We've seen them in the past and it's always been a very close game. We just knew we had to come out strong and make a statement." The two rivals were playing for the first time since they met in the Division I regional semifinals, which Avon rallied to win in five sets. The teams split the SWC championship last year with their only league losses being to each other. The Eagles didn't need to rally Thursday, however, since they never trailed. "We knew coming into this match that we're the team to beat in the conference because we came in undefeated," said Avon junior Londyn Stone, who finished with 10 kills, 11 digs and an ace. "We wanted to come here and show that no matter where you get us, no matter what gym we're in, we're still going to come out with a bunch of fire." Avon (10-1, 7-0 SWC) wasted no time establishing itself as it won the first 12 points, 11 on Hamilton's serve. She recorded her first ace at 3-0 and added a kill during the run. Avon Lake (5-3, 5-2) didn't do itself any favors, committing five errors during the stretch. It started off neck-and-neck with Avon in the second game, tying the Eagles at 3 and staying close for the first 13 points. But when Stone took over serving duties with the Eagles leading 7-6, she sparked a 14-0 run. She only had one ace during the span, but the Shoregals helped Avon out by committing eight errors, including five straight during the end of the run. Avon scored 18 of the last 20 points in the second set. "I think that we put up a really great block today," Avon coach Kara Coffman said. "We did a really good job of not letting the other team take any momentum from us." Avon Lake switched its entire rotation in the third game, and turned in its most competitive stretch. It looked as if the Shoregals were going to tie the game at 10 off a strong opening serve that sent the Eagles into a frenzy, but junior Bethany Sherwood converted a long dig to keep the point alive and eventually Avon took an 11-9 lead. Sherwood finished with six kills and led the team with four blocks. Avon Lake stayed close, but never led. After Ana Tomazic gave Avon a 20-16 lead with a kill, the Eagles won five of the next six points to close out the win. "You try to prepare your team mentally and physically and hopefully both of those come together on that day," Avon Lake coach Shana Miocinovic said. "Then on top of that, coming into your rival match, hopefully those levels are heightened. We did not come in with that type of mentality or thought process today. So it's on us." Contact Chris Sweeney at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on X.