High school boys volleyball: Amherst sweeps past Avon Lake, turns thoughts to postseason

AVON LAKE — With the postseason right around the corner, Amherst has picked a good time to be playing some of its best volleyball of the season. The Comets swept past Avon Lake 25-10, 25-14, 25-23 on Monday to improve to 10-10 this season. Amherst, which has been at the forefront of the sport's development in the area, has turned into a solid program in just three years. The Shoremen (2-14) are playing at the club level this year. "The learning curve for the boys is so high, they just pick up things so quickly because they're such good athletes," Comets coach Felicia Sanchez said. "Our growth even week to week this year has been tremendous, and I couldn't be more proud of them." Amherst dominated the first two sets, jumping out to early leads in both. Gavin Beckler, who is 6-foot-5, and Nathan Stewart, two of 11 seniors on the Comets, led the way in the first set with Stewart picking up five kills and Beckler getting four and a block-kill. "I've been playing two years, and watching everyone's work since I've been here has been awesome," said Beckler, who finished with a team-high 11 kills. "I think we're playing the best we have all year. We're flowing so smoothly right now." Beckler and sophomore Mason Lymer were at the heart of an early run in the second set that put the Comets ahead 12-5. Beckler had another four kills, while Lymer had three of the six he had in the match. Avon Lake's best effort came in the third set. The Shoremen opened a 6-2 lead behind a flurry of Comets' hitting errors. Junior James Ludwig helped turn things around for the Comets, however, coming through with four of his five kills and a service ace as Amherst took a 21-14 lead. But Avon Lake wasn't done. Charlie Lane started a comeback for the Shoremen with a pair of kills and a pair of aces, trimming the lead to 23-20. Three Amherst hitting errors led to a Comets timeout while clinging to a 24-23 lead. Avon Lake's chance to keep the match going came to an abrupt end, however, with a net violation. "I think we definitely played with more energy in that third set and we did a much better job of passing the ball," Shoremen coach Jeff Lillibridge said. "Our hitters were also getting more strategic, it's great just to see the improvement from set to set tonight." The Comets, meanwhile, are gaining confidence and thinking big. "Everyone is really bonding this year and it's just so much fun out there," Ludwig said. "We feel like we're getting ready for the tournament, and we want to go far this year." Contact James Brady at (440) 329-7135 or jbrady_ct@yahoo.com. Amherst 25-25-25, Avon Lake 10-14-23 KILLS: (AM) Gavin Beckler 11, Nathan Stewart 7, Mason Lymer 6, James Ludwig 5; (AL) Nick Hubbard 9, Charlie Lane 5. ASSISTS: (AM) Joe Penano 8. ACES: (AM) Aiden Workman 3, Penano 2, Prince Tran 2; AL: Lane 4, Hubbard 1. BLOCK-KILLS: (AM) Brendan Bingham 2, Lymer 2.