The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Avon, Olmsted Falls seasons come to end
Avon drops thriller with Magnificat, Olmsted Falls swept by St. Joseph as area D-I teams have all been eliminated
For the first time in three years, Avon will not advance to a district final after losing, 3-2, to Magnificat Oct. 23 in a Division I Grafton District semifinal at Midview.
The third-seeded Eagles came out strong and powered their way to a 25-22 win in the first set before the No. 2 Blue Streaks dominated the next two, putting all the pressure on their opponent. But as expected of a match featuring two state-ranked teams, there was no going down without a fight.
A seven-point service run by Katie Sopko put Avon (20-4) firmly in control of the fourth set and the Eagles carried all the momentum with them into set No. 5, as the match became a race to 15 points. But in the end Magnificat had a bit more explosiveness at the net and pulled off a 15-13 win in the final set to advance to the district final where it will face top-seeded St. Joseph Academy on Oct 27.
“I think when you compare these two teams they’re pretty evenly matched. That shows with the final fifth set score,” Avon coach Julie Bendzuck said. “I just think (Magnificat) was able to terminate the ball at a few crucial, crucial times in the game.”
Avon kept pace with the Blue streaks in both the front and back court.
Both teams racked up nearly 50 kills each and neither defense would let anything hit the floor without getting at least a touch on the ball, and it was that effort that Bendzuck is most proud of as she told her team to walk away with their heads held high after having left everything they had on the court in their final game of the season.
“It would have been very, very easy for our girls to quit and to get out of here in four (sets) and to be on the bus a half-hour or 45 minutes ago,” Bendzuck said. “I mean, we were down by double digits in Set 3 and then we came in Set 4 and we beat them? ... To be able to fight back (in the fifth set) and get (the score) to 14-12? There’s nothing more I could’ve asked of our kids.”
There’s an added sense of pride when taking in to account the level of talent in the Grafton District year in and year out.
Three of the top four seeds — Avon (14), Magnificat (10) and St. Joseph (9) — are ranked among the top 20 D-I teams in Ohio, making the path to a district championship as difficult as any team has to face.
“I told (the seniors) no team has a walk to the district championship in our district and they were able to experience that three out of their four years, and then tonight to go down to the wire with a team that’s ranked higher in the state than us and probably has a few more talented kids than us? There’s nothing else I could’ve asked,” Bendzuck said. “We played as hard as we could. I think we did a pretty, pretty freaking good job keeping up with (Magnificat), and at the end of the day they just need to be proud of what they accomplished and that’s what it comes down to.”
Gillian Romanchok had a game-high 15 kills and four blocks for the Eagles, Katie Koziarz had 11 kills and Sopko added seven, while Maddy Jerdonek had 38 assists.
For Magnificat, Coach Jessica Ciborek knew she’d have her hands full with Romanchok and the many offensive weapons on the Avon side, but she said as long as her team takes care of business on its side of the net, she’s confident it can pull off a victory.
“They’re stacked with players out the wazoo,” Ciborek said of Avon. “I thought we did an excellent job taking care of our side of the court which is what we do best.
“That’s what we’ve been stressing since Day 1 is just outworking your opponent at the net, so getting off quicker, really exploding, speeding up the last two steps of their approach, and that’s what we did.”
Joe’s sweeps Bulldogs
Olmsted Falls nearly stole a set from St. Joseph but the Jaguars pulled off a 3-0 sweep Oct. 23 at Midview to advance to the Division I Grafton District final where they will face Magnificat.
The Bulldogs were completely out-matched in the first two sets, losing, 25-12 and 25-9, before showing some life in the third. After taking their first lead of the night early, they fell behind before regaining a sixpoint lead midway through, using aggressive serving and strategic ball placement to finally catch St. Joseph (19-5) off guard.
But the Jaguars, last year’s D-I state runner up, muscled their way back, matching Olmsted Falls (20-4) point for point before eventually taking the match with a 29-27 victory in the final set.
Despite the slow start, Olmsted Falls handled the bigger, stronger St. Joseph front court fairly well and managed a handful of blocks against a team that finds a way to cut through most defenders.
Jeanie Edgington led the Bulldogs with eight kills and three blocks and Kaye Dregalla followed up with five kills and four blocks.
Cecy Guye had eight kills and three blocks for St. Joseph, which will take on Magnificat on Oct. 27 at Midview for the district championship.