Girls volleyball: Avon holds off Olmsted Falls in early season thriller

AVON — It's only Week 1 in the Southwestern Conference volleyball season, but the Avon-Olmsted Falls match Thursday may go a long way in deciding this year's champion.And, boy, what a match.Both teams put on a defensive clinic that will be hard pressed to repeat, but the Eagles, who made it to the Final Four in Division II last year, held on to beat the Bulldogs 25-20, 25-27, 25-23, 25-21 to stay unbeaten at 4-0 overall and 2-0 in the SWC."I'm not really surprised how well we both played. Falls is such a good program, we both played lights out," said Eagles coach Kara Coffman. "I think we caught ourselves getting frustrated and were able to change that in the final two sets to win."In the opening set, the Eagles got an early lead with senior Lily Hamilton serving, as Londyn Stone and Kaitlyn Pojman had kills along with a pair of kills from Bethany Sherwood as Avon turned a 4-0 deficit into a 9-4 lead."I'm surprised at how well we both played so early in the year," said Hamilton, who had 12 kills and 26 assists. "They are such a talented team, and we really had to prepare for this. Everybody was ready, they knew their job and came out and played well."Olmsted Falls (2-1, 1-1), who made it to the Elite Eight in Division II, managed to come back and tie things at 16, but the Eagles pulled away thanks to three more kills from Sherwood, who finished with 16.Sherwood and Stone had Avon in position to go up 2-0 in the match as they combined for eight kills along with another four from Hamilton, with her last one giving the Eagles a 24-20 lead.Falls got a kill from Emily Odon to get the serve back and that turned into a 7-1 run with senior Maya Awad getting three of her 12 kills for a stunning 27-25 win to even the match at 1."I think that when we ran things the way we wanted, things went well, like at the end of the second set," Bulldogs coach Brigid Radigan said. "I think that we both know each other so well, it just comes down to executing when we face each other."The third set proved to be the turning point for the Eagles as the Bulldogs trailed early following a pair of Stone kills and aces from Caroline Busold and Stone at 11-5.Falls fought back and following an Odon ace, the score sat at 22-all, but this time Avon pushed back, getting its final three points on three kills by Sherwood, with one of them on a block.The Bulldogs kept Stone in check most of the night, picking up numerous of her big hits, but she made a big difference in the final set with a pair of kills early and with the Eagles clinging to a 19-18 lead following a kill by Awad.Stone responded with four straight kills, giving her a match-high 20 that could have been at least half as many again had it not been for the Olmsted Falls defense."This was definitely a game that we have been looking forward to," Stone said. "We really pushed ourselves in practice, (Falls) was amazing competition and we pulled out a serious win today."The Bulldogs threatened to knot things with three straight points, but a Falls hitting error and a block-kill from Peyton Reinart finished off the wild win for Avon.Contact James Brady at (440) 329-7135 or jbrady_ct@yahoo.com.Avon 3, Olmsted Falls 1Olmsted Falls 20-27-23-21Avon 25-25-25-25KILLS — (OF) Grace Largent 15, Maya Awad 12, Emma Schaefer 10, Emily Odon 9; (A) Londyn Stone 20, Bethany Sherwood 16, Lily Hamilton 12.ASSISTS — (A) Hamilton 26, Katlyn Pojman 21.DIGS — (A) Ally Brediger 36, Stone 28.ACES — (OF) Awad 2; (A) Emily Styers 2, Stone 2.BLOCK-KILLS — (OF) Awad 4, Schaefer, Carmen Muzingo; (A) Hamilton 3, Sherwood 2.