The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Powerful Avon aiming for outright title
Avon is 10-0 in conference play, thanks in part to improvements on offense
This year the Avon Eagles are playing like a team that’s no longer interested in sharing a conference title.
Avon has tied for the Southwestern Conference championship the past two seasons. This year the Eagles are playing like a team that’s no longer interested in sharing.
With three weeks left in the regular season, Avon (11-2, 10-0 SWC) has a two-game lead in the loss column over Olmsted Falls (13-2, 9-2) and Westlake (11-4, 8-2) and has lost a mere five sets in 13 matches this year — one in conference play. The Eagles had won 21 straight sets before dropping the opener at Amherst on Sept. 13.
The Eagles’ success is not surprising as they are consistently one of the top programs in Northeast Ohio. In the most recent OHSVCA poll released Sept. 24, Avon comes in at No. 16 and has been ranked as high as ninth in previous poll results. But it’s not enough for a team that’s been knocked out of the playoffs in a district final the past three seasons, each time by St. Joseph Academy.
It’s not enough to boast regular-season success anymore, and the Eagles are making adjustments every day to continue improving upon what has been a winning formula to this point.
“Do I think we need to do things better? Yes, but there’s always things to get better at,” head coach Julie Bendzuck said.
One of the biggest improvements for Avon has been on offense, which is hard to believe considering its front court is known for not only its power, but its precision at the net.
Much of that comes from experience brought on by a senior-heavy rotation.
As a team, the Eagles average 12.7 kills per set, a near full point better than last year’s regularseason average and ranking among one of the best team averages in the area, and have four players averaging over two kills per set in at least 30 sets played.
Seniors Sydney Stone (2.3), Katie Sopko (2.2) and Katie Koziarz (2.1) have made incredible strides in their offensive attack, but Bendzuck said it’s Gillian Romanchok who’s emerged as a “terminator” on the court.
The senior outside hitter has a team-best 112 kills (3.4 per set) in 33 sets played, and for the first time has been tasked with playing a full six rotations, flexing some of that offensive power from the back row.
“Gillian’s playing really, really well. She’s become a terminator on the court, which is a huge deal,” Bendzuck said. “She’s just a hard-working kid. She won’t get out-worked on this court which is what I love about her.”
Romanchok’s abilities have never come into question, but she’s found this year that an improved mental toughness has allowed her game to flourish.
Having a setter like fellow senior Maddy Jerdonek doesn’t hurt, either. With the luxury of being
able to spread the ball among a wealth of hitters, Jerdonek has amassed 355 assists (9.6 per set) through 37 sets this season and continues to run one of the most consistent offenses in the area.
“It’s definitely helped that we’ve been playing together since the fourth grade,” Romanchok said of her teammate. “We know each other’s strengths and weaknesses on the court. I know where she’s gonna put the ball and she knows where I’m gonna hit the ball and that really helps on the court.
“Knowing that my team has my back and they’re telling me where to hit, and I know they have confidence in me and they trust me to put the ball down and that really just helps a lot in the mental aspect of the game.”
Avon has eight SWC games left on the schedule which includes the bottom half of the top five: No. 3 Westlake, No. 4 Amherst and No. 5 Avon Lake — all teams that have the ability to steal a match if the Eagles let up even a little bit.
But it’s hard to imagine a scenario in which Avon doesn’t at least earn a share of the conference title for the third season in a row, a fact to which even its rivals have resigned themselves.
“(Avon is) a bigger, taller, stronger team ... that’s a good offense,” Amherst coach Laurie Cogan said. “Might be one of the better offenses that we’re going to face all season.”