District volleyball: Avon Lake knocks off Bay in four-set semifinal victory

BAY VILLAGE — Riley Baughman came through in the clutch for Avon Lake.Facing back-to-back set points in a pivotal third set, the junior outside hitter scored three of her team's final five points, including the set-clinching kill, to help propel the Shoregals to a 25-14, 20-25, 27-25, 25-11 win in a Division III, Northeast 3 district semifinal Tuesday."A lot of drills we do are really high pressure and that helps us a lot," said Baughman, who finished with 15 kills. "We had a team talk and just focused in and just made sure we pushed the point when we needed to. It just took a lot of hard work and dedication and the fact that we want to keep playing with this team. We want to keep going and advancing."No. 9 seeded Avon Lake (14-9) will face No. 6 Kenston (17-7), which defeated No. 12 Revere (16-8) in the first semifinal, in the district final at Holy Name on Thursday at 5 p.m. No. 3 Bay ends its season at 21-3.The Shoregals got off to a fast start, opening up a 7-0 lead with sophomore Ella Griffin recording four of her five kills for the match during that span. Avon Lake also served well with junior defensive specialist Sophie Faltenovich recording two of her three aces during the opening points.Avon Lake finished with 18 aces with three girls all recording at least four."We spend a lot of time in film figuring out exactly their weaknesses," said senior Kendall Holley, who finished with 14 kills. "We even put targets out in practice, and I think that really helped us figure out where we should be serving every single rotation."Bay got back on track in the second set thanks largely to Olivia Miller, who showed why she's committed to play at Findlay next year with seven of her team-high 17 kills in the second set.Avon Lake started off with a 3-0 lead in the second set, but that evaporated with Miller stringing together three kills and an ace during a 13-4 run that gave the Rockets control of the set. The Shoregals cut the deficit to 23-20, but Miller responded with a kill and sophomore libero Payton Masterson closed the set with an ace."She's just an incredible player," Bay coach Katie Seal said of Miller, who led the team with 17 kills and five aces. "She has a really high volleyball IQ and when she goes out there she's not really doing it for herself, she's doing it for the team. That really makes a big difference. She plays smart and she's just awesome."The third set featured some fantastic rallies. Bay opened with a 6-1 run, but Avon Lake slowly chipped away until four straight kills by senior Kendall Bondar capped a run of six unanswered points for the Shoregals to tie the set at 14. Bondar led the team with 17 kills.Bay pulled ahead 18-15 when Avon Lake responded with six unanswered, two kills by Holley and three aces by Ella Hoerig, who finished with four. Miller ended the run with a kill and Bay took a 24-22 lead behind her ace, giving the Rockets two chances to take a 2-1 lead.However, senior middle back Kelsee Dalgleish came up with a clutch block and Baughman recorded three kills to close the set on a 5-1 run.The Shoregals methodically pulled away in the fourth set, taking a 10-4 lead behind a 7-1 run and never looking back. Senior Charlotte Preto recorded three of her team-high five aces during the final set."We've been reiterating to them that we're in the juggernaut division for state," Avon Lake coach Kristin Primozic said. "Every game is going to be tough, our opponent is going to come with the best that they can and we're going to need to be able to fight through even if we're a down a little bit."Contact Chris Sweeney at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on X.