H.S. Volleyball: Avon stays perfect, secures share of SWC title

AMHERST — It's 19 straight wins and still going strong for Avon's volleyball team as it clinched a share of the Southwestern Conference championship with a 25-18, 25-20, 25-9 sweep of Amherst on Thursday. Avon, the No. 3-ranked Division II team in the state, remained undefeated at 19-0 overall and 12-0 in the SWC while the Comets fell to 11-9 and 8-5. The Eagles have a two-game lead on Olmsted Falls with two matches to play against Avon Lake and Elyria. It would take a major upset from Elyria in Avon's final home match to jeopardize an outright title. "We do have a lot of weapons," Avon coach Kara Coffman said. "Different people step up at different times. I think it's great that all of our weapons are different. We adapt and find who's on and find a way to win." The Eagles, who advanced to the state tournament last season, seem primed for another deep run in the tournament. They have weapons all over the floor and play solid defense. Sophomore libero Ally Brediger had 21 digs Thursday and seniors Londyn Stone (9), Lily Hamiton (6) and Caroline Busold (5) combined for 20 more. "I've been playing since I was younger and we work really hard in practice," Brediger said. "I have a lot of good hitters to pass and dig in practice, so I've been working on it a lot. It's a lot of fun." Along the front line, senior Bethany Sherwood led the attack with 13 kills but Stone had 10, Hamilton six and three others — junior Peyton Reinart, sophomore Julia Majerus and freshman Clare Freaney — each had five. "Especially how we run back-row sets, too," Sherwood said when asked about the strength and depth of the team. "If the pass is off, you see the three girls in the front row ready to attack but London or Caroline come out of nowhere with a big swing." Amherst gave Avon all it wanted in the second set but fell just short of winning. The Comets scored the first four points off a pair of aces from junior Liv Candelario and still led 15-14 before the Eagles took control with two scoring runs of four points each down the stretch to finally pull away. Kendal Dobbins and Liv Candelario both provided huge kills during the second set for the Comets. "I think they're starting to believe in themselves and have some confidence," Amherst coach Courtney Rua said. "If they believe they can do something, the sky is the limit. If we get blocked in our heads — like you saw in Set 3 — we're a completely different team." "I think we kind of lost energy a little bit and lost a little bit of confidence in that second set," Sherwood said. "We had a conversation as a team — we need more energy, more confidence on the court. We need to go out there and just have fun. We can't let simple mistakes stress us out." Avon came out in the third set with a purpose. The Eagles jumped in front 5-0 and pushed the lead from there. They led 16-5 and 21-8 before outscoring Amherst 5-1 to close it out. "We were just talking about our communication," Coffman said. "Communication helps us be successful. We like to have a statement set and this should clinch us the conference." "They're a great team," Rua said. "I know they went to the final four last year and they have a lot of good pieces. They're very disciplined. You could see it in Set 3. They were digging everything. You have to give them credit." Contact Tim Gebhardt at (440) 329-7235 or timothygeb@msn.com. Avon 25-25-25, Amherst 18-20-9 KILLS: (Av) Bethany Sherwood 13; (Am) Kendal Dobbins 9. ASSISTS: (Av) Madison Demmerle 23; (Am) Callie Beckler 9. BLOCKS: (Av) Lily Hamilton, Clare Sherwood, Peyton Reinart, Sherwood 2; (Am) Liv Candelario, Lola Candelario, Maddie Doan 1. DIGS: (Av) Ally Brediger 21; (Am) Dani Dury 10. ACES: (Av) Lily Hamilton 2; (Am) Liv Candelario 4.