To be the best, you have to beat the best.
Olmsted Falls went undefeated in SWC play last season and was certainly the best. Avon has conference championship aspirations this season, and the Eagles stepped up in their home opener to sweep the Bulldogs on Aug. 29, 25-16, 25-18, 28-26.
Avon (4-0, 3-0 SWC) was the young team last season, while Olmsted Falls (7-2, 2-1 SWC) had a senior-laden team. The roles are reversed this year, and the veteran Eagles stayed composed down the stretch to hold off the young Bulldogs. This wasn’t an upset, but it was a huge win.
“We talk a lot about the conference championship. That’s a big goal for us,” Avon coach Kara Coffman said. “Going into this game in particular, we talked about if we want to be the champs, you have to beat the champs. That’s something we’ve been harping, this team won the conference last year. We were super focused, and we were prepared for the game tonight.”
There’s a changing of the tide as this was the first time since 2020 that Avon beat Olmsted Falls. Senior Grace Busold was a freshman back then, and she made sure her team was going to walk away with a win in this one. In all three sets, she put away the winning point.
“I think it proves the point that we’re coming in this year playing to win,” she said. “We’re playing to get first place in our conference, so I feel like we really tried to make a statement in this game.”
Olmsted Falls might’ve lost a lot of production from 2022, but the Bulldogs are still a tough out. As bright as the future looks, you’re already seeing what these young players are capable of. No matter who is on the roster, it did something for Avon’s confidence to beat that team.
“I think beating them was definitely a good confidence booster for us,” Avon’s Londyn Stone said. “I know coming into our home opener, we wanted to show up and show out. With all of our fans and friends here, we wanted to put on a show that everyone was going to remember.”
The past couple of years during Olmsted Falls’ five-game winning streak over Avon, the script was flipped. The Bulldogs knew what it took to win high-profile games and close their opponents out. Experience can’t be replicated in volleyball.
Olmsted Falls coach Brigid Radigan recognized how the programs have changed afterward, knowing it will take some time for her young team to learn how to win.
“Avon’s a veteran team. This is the team that they’ve been waiting on for the last couple of years,” Radigan said. “We are them from two or three years ago. I was just really proud of my girls for competing until the last whistle. Avon’s battle tested and we’re not, but we need to go through situations like this to grow. I think we grew a lot as a team tonight.”
The Bulldogs had multiple chances to take the third set for instance, but Avon wouldn’t back down. Olmsted Falls jumped out to a 12-5 lead with seven unanswered points. Hayden Hess had a kill and Delaney Radigan provided solid serving with an ace. The Eagles hit four balls out in a row to extend the Bulldog lead.
After a timeout, Avon got back on the same page again. The Eagles went on a 10-2 run of their own to take the lead. The rest of the set was back-and-forth until kills from Jesse Simon and Emily Odon gave Olmsted Falls a 24-22 advantage.
Avon’s experience showed by staying in the fight. Its best players, Busold and Stone, stepped up when the lights were brightest. Both recorded kills to tie the score. Stone kept getting dig after dig to keep points alive, and Busold put the game away with her sixth ace.
“I’m so excited that we pushed ourselves forward and took the next step as a team,” Stone said. “We work a lot on pushing back and getting out of holes. As a team, we have to have the mindset that we’re going to finish the game. There was still a chance for us to win it, so we couldn’t give up on it. I think that’s what pushed us to the end.”
The scores of the first two sets were 25-16 and 25-18, but Olmsted Falls had leads in both. A couple of things were proven right in this matchup between SWC heavyweights. Olmsted Falls proved that despite losing so many seniors, its young players still have what it takes to compete at the top of the conference. Avon also proved that it’s the conference contender that it was thought to be heading in.
“Before today’s game, we talked about playing with confidence,” Coffman said. “They weren’t afraid to finish the set or be the one to finish the set. They all wanted the ball at the end.”
Stone had a game-high 13 kills, and was one of five Eagles to have 11 digs on the night. Busold was next up with eight kills, and she added 11 digs along with six aces. Lily Hamilton had a solid night at setter, too, also with 11 digs to go with her 17 assists.
Grace Largent led Olmsted Falls with 10 kills, while Maya Awad had nine and Hess had seven. Emily Odon also notched 20 assists and 14 digs.
Both teams continue SWC play on the road on Aug. 31, as Avon travels to Berea-Midpark and Olmsted Falls is at Amherst.
