Boys volleyball: Avon sweeps Midview

AVON — After a brief false start, everything went right for Avon. The microphone cut out right as Avon's Kyle Partridge was about to be introduced, but his teammates improvised by announcing him and the remainder of the roster. Partridge returned the favor to Midview as his four aces sparked a run that helped cut the first set short during a 25-6, 25-13, 25-8 victory Monday night. "Everyone got their serves in," Partridge said. "We practice them every day, make sure we get our serves in and coaches put us in pressure situations to help us. I was just feeling my serve. I felt like I had good tosses and a lot of people stepped up today. Coming up to the playoffs, we're just preparing for that. We have to keep working hard." Avon (15-5) had a near-perfect first set led by a dominant attack. Noah Mai and Logan Lam each had three kills in the opening set while the Middies' six points all came on Avon errors. The Eagles won the first five points with Mai contributing a kill, an ace and another serve that wasn't returned. Partridge helped Avon on a 6-0 run with a kill and four straight aces, giving them a 15-4 lead. Mai added a kill and two more aces to help close out the set. "Coach trained us to pressure serving and I think that helps us a lot," Mai said. "When we don't get our serves, that can bring us down. After our loss to Perrysburg, I just had more confidence and served harder. I think my serves we're pretty good today and everyone else was doing really good." Midview (4-8), however, responded in the second. It took its first lead, 4-3, behind a kill from Jacob Myers — the first of the game for the Middies — and stood with Avon through the first 15 points, leading 8-7. The Eagles, however, won 10 of the next 12 points. "I told the kids after quite a few losses that the best compliment would be in the second half of the season when we face someone a second time that the coaches could tell our improvement," Midview coach Melanie Dougall said. "That's exactly what happened when they shook our hands. This time we had rallies, we earned points. It's exciting to see when you have such a young team." The Middies again kept pace with the Eagles in the opening of the final set, winning the first three points and did not trail for the first 10 points. Avon broke a 6-6 tie with a 7-0 run and closed the match on a 19-2 run. John Ling had three aces and two kills during the final 21 points while Mai added back-to-back aces during the initial stretch of seven unanswered. "I think we're looking good," Avon coach Adrian Lee said. "I was a little worried because I think lately we haven't been playing our best. I talked to them before, told them to treat every game as if it's the playoffs from now on because this is our last week. They carried a lot of energy and passion into this game." Contact Chris Sweeney at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on X.