High school volleyball: Avon finally breaks through, sweeps Austintown Fitch to make state for first time

STREETSBORO — Avon has been knocking on the door to the state volleyball tournament for years but no one answered. Saturday, the Eagles decided to kick the door down. The Eagles, ranked third in Division II, advanced to the state tournament for the first time in school history with a dominating 25-15, 25-17, 25-11 regional final win over Austintown Fitch at Streetsboro High School. Avon (24-2) will play top-ranked Anthony Wayne in the state semifinals Thursday at 6 p.m. at Kettering Fairmont High School, which is located on the south side of Dayton. "We knew this was a team that could reset the match and we had to come out strong to take control offensively and defensively," said junior Londyn Stone, who had a team-high-tying 15 kills. "We watched their five-set match (against Amherst), but we knew if we played our game we wouldn't have to worry." Avon had the Falcons (20-6) on their heels from the get-go, jumping out to a 9-3 lead on a couple of Stone kills, a Bethany Sherwood kill and a bevy of Austintown Fitch unforced errors. In the back half of the opening set, junior Lily Hamilton took control with five of her 15 kills and a pair of aces in a four-point service run in the 25-15 win. "We prioritized starting out strong, that's how you gain momentum in this game," Hamilton said. "We did such a great job with that start. My teammates are always hyping me up and it's fun when you get in a stretch like that getting kills. "We knew we had to stay locked in against this team after seeing their five-set win over Amherst last week. I'm kind of surprised we won in three sets, but we're just playing so well right now. This is a great win." The Falcons' best stretch of play came in the second set when they led by five points early. Kylie Folkwein picked up two of her five kills and the Falcons trailed just 13-12 following a Rylie Simons tip-kill, but the Eagles took control from there. A service error gave the serve to Avon senior libero Thea Beran, who delivered a pair of aces wrapped around kills from Stone and Ana Tomazic to push the lead to 19-12. "This team has worked so hard these past months, ever since the summer," said Beran, who had 15 digs. "Every day has been a grind. It's been so hard to get to where we are at right now. We worked so well defensively today, and we just wanted to make history today." Austintown Fitch didn't stand a chance of pulling off another five-set miracle as Stone and Hamilton took over in the third set. Stone had four kills, including the match-clincher, to go with a dominating six kills from Hamilton, who helped expand the lead from 12-7 to 22-9. "We scouted this team really well and stuck to our game plan from the start," said Avon coach Kara Coffman, who has led a team to regionals four straight years, two with Vermilion and the last two with Avon. "We got some good insight on them watching their five-set match against a team we know well (Amherst). "This is so much fun and I'm so excited. I've been waiting for this a long time. I'm so proud of these girls for how hard they have worked and to be able to accomplish this goal." Contact James Brady at (440) 329-7135 or jbrady_ct@yahoo.com. Avon 25-25-25, Austintown Fitch 15-17-11 KILLS: (AF) Kylie Folkwein 4, Katie Wilt; (A) Londyn Stone 15, Lily Hamilton 15, Bethany Sherwood 5 ACES: (AF) Kaliana Ray 3, Rylie Simons 1; (A) Hamilton 3, Thea Beran 3 ASSISTS: (A) Kaitlyn Pojman 20, Hamilton 13 DIGS: (A) Thea Beran 15, Stone 15, Hamilton 10 BLOCK-KILLS: (AF) Folkwein 2, Morgan Roby 2; (AV) Ana Tomazic 1