The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
OLMSTED FALLS SNAPS AVON STREAK
THE SCORE OLMSTED FALLS 3, AVON 1
Olmsted Falls’ Lindsey LaPinta was in eighth grade the last time the Bulldogs beat Avon in the regular season.
Oct. 13, LaPinta and her seven other senior teammates finally slayed the dragon, snapping the Eagles’ 57-match conference winning streak with a 3-1 victory.
“Every single year I’ve played that’s what the season revolves around, beating Avon,” she said. “So for it to finally happen, it feels like a dream.”
LaPinta, a two-year captain and three-year starter, was at the heart of Olmsted Falls’ stout defense that held Avon to just 16 first-set points and 15 fourth-set points.
The Bulldogs played a near perfect match and now are riding a nine-match win streak, with their last loss coming at the hands of Avon on Oct. 17 in four sets.
“One of our team mottos is relentless defense, and you have to have that killer instinct,” LaPinta said. “That’s the most important part of the game for us. When you play in big games like this, defense is the most fun, so you’re more willing to throw your body around.”
Olmsted Falls took that loss to heart, changing up its offense over the last month to match up with the Avons and Amhersts of the world. It worked well, as the Bulldogs have now beaten the Eagles and Comets in the second half of their schedule, both in convincing fashion.
“Back a few weeks ago (in an article), the opposing coach said she thought her kids had more edge than we did,” Olmsted Falls coach Brigid Radigan said. “Our kids took that personally, and they wanted to prove that they had an edge to them and that they could finish games.”
Junior Riley Victor is one of several players powering the Bulldogs’ new offense. Victor finished with a team-high 16 kills, while freshman Kylee Urban added 13.
“I think in the beginning (of the season) we had kept our same rotation for a while from last year,” Victor said. “We decided to change it, and we just kept changing things. And once we found out this was working for us, we beat Amherst with this lineup, we have just kept pushing hard.”
Avon was uncharacteristically off-balance in the first two sets, but the Eagles bounced back to win the third, 25-23. Senior Jamie Villwock, who was the lone player from the 2020 Eagles to play during the 2017 season, led Avon with nine kills.
The Eagles were playing without Avery Abfall, who is second on the team with 148 kills this season.
The last time Avon lost a conference regular-season match, a 3-0 to Amherst on Sept. 14, 2017, the Eagles’ current seniors were freshmen.
Since then, Avon embarked on a 57-match winning streak that has included five straight conference titles.
“We didn’t even really talk about the streak. The whole reason you play is to win the
conference and then the district and move on,” Avon coach Julie Bendzuck said. “I think I talked about it maybe once this year. In reality the streak is five conference titles in a row. So that’s what
I’m worried about.”
Those five straight include this season, as the Eagles have clinched at least a share of the SWC title, needing a win over Amherst on Oct. 15 to clinch it outright.