Girls volleyball: Avon Lake celebrates defensive specialist, beats Elyria

AVON LAKE — Prior to Tuesday's Southwestern Conference match against Elyria, Avon Lake celebrated its senior defensive specialist Charlotte Preto, who recently recorded her 500th dig. And the party never stopped for the Shoregals as they took the court and made easy work of the Pioneers, winning in straight sets 25-13, 25-5, 25-18. With the win Avon Lake remained a perfect 4-0 overall and 3-0 in the SWC. Shoregals coach Kristin Primozic said Preto, who is one of seven seniors on the Avon Lake roster, has played a huge role in her team's early season success. "Charlotte is our only four-year varsity player and she's been a huge factor not just for her defense but as a teammate and leader as well," Primozic said. "She brings the energy, she brings the fun and she helps to lighten the mood when things get a little dark on the court. It was all smiles and sunshine for the Shoregals on Tuesday as they only trailed in a set for two points in the entire match. In addition to her usual standout work on defense Preto also served up an ace early in the third set. "I've been working really hard since my freshman year so it felt really good to get an award that showed how hard I've worked," Preto said. "We were able to keep pushing tonight and we didn't get caught up in our mistakes," Preto said. "We made a lot of mistakes early on but we were able to keep our energy." The Shoregals played a nearly flawless second set as they raced out to a 5-1 lead before senior outside hitter Evie Bolognia rattled off 11 straight points from serve to allow the Avon Lake to totally dominate the set. "We started off a little slow at the beginning but I felt our momentum picking up that whole second set," Bolognia said. "Then we realized we got this and we can put the ball away and we were just upping the ante every single point." it was another tough night for the Pioneers to who fell to 0-5 and 0-3. One highlight for Elyria was the play of senior outside hitter Kennedy Smith. Smith had seven kills, four blocks and was a force at the net all night. "Kennedy was a middle for us the past two years and realized we had to get her more involved and we moved her outside," Elyria coach Hallie Schroeder said. "She really stepped up for us a captain. She's a vocal leader. When she makes an error she has the ability to move on and she rips the ball for us when she can." Elyria has yet to win a set this season but Schroeder said the team in focused on winning the small battles and not just the final score. "We're just working consistently and rebuilding our program this year," Schroeder said. "The girls are doing an amazing job with their mental toughness. We haven't had the outcomes we wanted this entire season but everyone still comes to practice ready to work every day. I prefer tough matches like this, it can only make us and our program better." The biggest cheers from the Elyria side came late in the match when sophomore Alysa Boddy came into the match to see her first varsity action. Boddy didn't disappoint as she won two consecutive points from serve, including her first ace. Contact Todd Shapiro at (440)-329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Avon Lake 25-25-25, Elyria 13-5-18 ACES: (E) Camy Kelly 2, Kennedy Smith, Alysa Boddy; (AL) Evie Bolognia 3, Sophie Faltenovich 3, Danielle Hubert 2, Charlotte Preto. KILLS: (E) Smith 7; (AL) Kendall Bodnar 6, Riley Baughman 5, Kelsee Dalgeish 5.