Boys volleyball: Amherst beats Avon Lake in four sets

AMHERST — When in doubt, let the kids be kids.Amherst went into its boys volleyball match with Avon Lake without its seniors who were attending Senior Awards Night, so coach Felicia Sanchez allowed the underclassmen to play where they wanted on the floor.Amherst struggled at times, but still came away with a 25-20, 25-10, 20-25, 25-13 win over the Shoremen."With the seniors out for their banquet, we had all new lineups, and I think you saw that at times out there," said Sanchez who was coaching on next fall's home floor after recently being hired to take over the Shoregals' program. "I wanted to let the kids go out there and just have some fun this last week of the season."Avon Lake, with only eight on the roster, is playing out the stretch this week with no postseason opportunity, as two of its players are from North Olmsted High School.Avon Lake (3-10) came out of the gate playing well, turning a 19-12 deficit in the opening set into a tie at 19 thanks to three kills from Brady Tabar and a couple of aces by Jamie Talor.The Comets (14-6) responded with a 6-1 run to claim the opening set, led by kills from Mason Lymer and 6-foot-7 Gavin Beckler, who finished with 11 and 12 kills, respectively.The second set was all Amherst as Lymer picked up another four kills to go with a couple block-kills from Evan Thomson and six aces by the Comets, with Lymer accounting for three."Mason's volleyball IQ is through the roof," Sanchez said of the 6-foot junior. "He is such a great athlete. He sees the ball well, sees the court well and just makes everyone around him a better player."The most unusual lineup for Amherst came in the third set when Beckler started running the offense after telling the coach he could.Avon Lake took advantage after trailing 11-8 by finishing the third set on a 17-9 run, getting five aces, with CJ Stobe accounting for four of them, including the final two of the set following a Wyatt Weismann kill.Amherst jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the final set, with Beckler getting four more kills and an ace."We knew we were able to come out here tonight and have some fun before the postseason kicks in next week," Beckler said. "We've got a couple more games to figure out some rotations and get serious again."For Avon Lake coach Jeff Lillibridge, it was a moral victory for a developing program."After that second set, we knew we had to increase our energy, and I think the kids took it to heart after being dead quiet for a while," Lillibridge said. "It means a lot to play well against a team like Amherst since we will not be in the postseason. Getting some of the points that we earned, really felt like a big win for us."Contact James Brady at (440) 329-7135 or jbrady_ct@yahoo.com.