The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Shoregals advance after late scare
Third set run by North Ridgeville gives Avon Lake a postseason wake-up call
Avon Lake may have slightly underestimated its first-round opponent but pulled off the sweep over North Ridgeville on Oct. 17 in a Division-I sectional semifinal despite a third-set charge by the Rangers.
The seventh-seeded Shoregals rolled to an early 2-0 lead over a familiar opponent in Southwestern Conference foe North Ridgeville, but the Rangers came back after falling behind, 19-9, in the third set thanks to a sevenpoint service run by Sydney Wade, and upped the tempo to force Avon Lake to make a handful of uncharacteristic errors.
The Shoregals pulled off the win and advance to face No. 2 Magnificat on Oct. 20 in a sectional final. But the late-game scare was a wake-up call for the Shoregals, who can’t make the same mistakes against the 10thranked team in the state if they want a chance to play for a district title.
“I think our level of how we should be playing definitely dropped in that third set,” junior Abby Kirk said. “We played hard our first two sets and I think we just kind of let it go...we let it slide.
“We came in thinking we have this and we overthought it.”
The seven-point run in the final set was North Ridgeville’s longest on an otherwise challenging night.
North Ridgeville finishes the season 5-19.
The Rangers struggled to pick up on Avon Lake’s aggressive serving, allowing run after run which kept them essentially out of the match, and Coach Lisa Bakaitis said her team’s slow pace on defense gave the opposing hitters one too many opportunities at a kill.
“We didn’t play that great of defense,” Bakaitis said. “The slow pace on our end was from our slow defense and we just gave them too many runs. When you give teams chunks of five and six points, the game’s over really fast.
“That seems like our MO, is we start really slow and it takes us till about Game 3 to figure it out so I wasn’t completely surprised by it. I was very excited by their fight in the last game, definitely.”
Kirk led a Shoregals offense that had six players earn a kill. The 5-foot-8 junior had a game-high 19 kills, followed by Allison Lazor and Bree Lumpkin with six each. Natalie Appleton added a game-high 38 assists for Avon Lake (17-6).
“We’re definitely gonna be working on combinations,” Kirk said of preparing for the next round. “Faster sets, being together and being strong both physically and mentally.”
Comets cruise by Titans
Amherst overcame a slow start and cruised to a 3-0 sweep over Lorain Oct. 17 in a Division I sectional semifinal at Midview.
The fifth-seeded Comets advance to a sectional final to face Southwestern Conference rival and league champion Avon on Oct. 20.
The match started quite unexpectedly, at least on the Amherst side, when No. 11 Lorain came out strong and played what Coach Chantille Jackson said was some of her team’s best volleyball it’s played all year. The Titans even grabbed an early lead in the first set before eventually succumbing to an Amherst team that simply out-matched them in most every facet.
While the players were caught off guard by a hot Lorain start, Amherst coach Laurie Cogan felt it was pretty standard for this time of year.
“I told the kids, I said ‘You just have to weather the early storm,’ because (Lorain) will come out typically playing their best volleyball right from the getgo,” Cogan said. “(Lorain) played outstanding at the beginning and we were so energized to play that we were just making mistakes that were not really what I was anticipating but in some respects, yes.
“That first tournament game, you can see teams getting upset in that first match just because it’s different. You win or go home and go home means go home till next season.”
Once Amherst (15-8) finally settled in it was virtually game over for Lorain (12-11).
The Comets held their opponent to fewer and fewer points in each ensuing set and simply dominated at the net in a way the Titans haven’t seen all year.
Taylor Small led the attack with 13 kills including a resounding hit near the end of the first set that seemed to finally wake up the Amherst side as the senior took charge of the match.
“Being a senior, this is my last postseason as a high school player and I love to lead my team,” Small said. “If that means we get to go further then I’m stepping up.”
The Comets produced a well-rounded attack behind Small, as well. Laken Voss followed with seven kills, Anna Cairns had five, Kaylin Betances had four and Morgan Smith had three. Audrey McConihe led the defense with 14 digs.
For Lorain, the end result was obviously disappointing but with the complete lack of experience across the roster, Jackson was encouraged by the growth she saw in what was the team’s final game of the year.
“They came out working really hard and making adjustments that they have not made all season,” Jackson said. “I was really proud of them, to see them set up. Obviously it’s late in the game and it’s tournament time, but to see them make changes and adjustments was really good.
“It really did emphasize the growth . ... With a couple touches this season, they’ve really figured some things out. They’re starting to pick up on things and be able to read things that they were not at the beginning of the season at all.”