It wasn’t a perfect performance by Avon Lake. But when the Shoregals get going, they’re hard to stop.
After a competitive first set, Avon Lake pulled away with a 14-0 start in the second set to earn a road sweep over Midview in SWC play on Aug. 24, 25-20, 25-13, 25-12.
There are a lot of times when Avon Lake (3-0, 2-0 SWC) is on the offensive, all the defense can do is get out of the way. You will be hard-pressed to find an outside hitter duo that compares to Aubrey Kirk and Stephanie Smith, and they were on their game in this one.
Smith had a game-high 15 kills, while Kirk had 11. Setter Rachel Meyer had a whopping 40 assists too, so they were all clicking. After a win earlier in the week over Berea-Midpark, the Shoregals are 2-0 in conference play.
“Rachel puts up some pretty good balls for us every time,” Kirk said. “It just makes it easy for us to put down to be honest. I definitely think it’s a big thing (to start 2-0), we’re trying to push it and get these wins in three sets.”
PHOTOS: Avon Lake vs. Midview volleyball, Aug. 24, 2023
As good as Avon Lake looked down the stretch, Midview (0-3, 0-2 SWC) came with everything it had in the first set. Lily Tomasheski is one of the few players around who can go toe-to-toe with Kirk and Smith, and she was putting on a clinic in the opening set. It was tied up early on, and both Tomasheski and Smith had three kills each.
Midview went on a 4-0 run to take the lead with a kill from Tomasheski, but strong serving from the Shoregals built the lead back up again. Once a kill from Izzy Loeffler put Avon Lake in front, the team scored three more points in a row with an ace from Smith. Another ace from Charlotte Preto and a kill from Kirk put the set away.
The Shoregals were swinging hard, but the Middies played strong defense early on. Kirk racked up five kills in the first set and Smith had four, but Midview's defense was sliding all over the floor to make big plays. However, once Avon Lake took the first set, frustration won over on the Middies' side.
"We have super high moments and we have had our own runs," Midview interim coach Tricia Thomas said. "We just need to work on our mental toughness really. That's what we told the kids in the locker room, we can't beat ourselves up over mistakes and keep pushing forward."
The first set went down to the wire, but the Shoregals left no doubt in the second set. Smith was unstoppable in the second set with seven kills, and Kirk served for the entire run that saw them pull out to a 14-0 lead. Kirk picked up two aces, and Lily Rice got involved with two kills at the net. Midview couldn't recover, and the run essentially ended it.
"The girls have the willingness to win and they put the effort in," Avon Lake coach Shana Miocinovic said. "When push comes to shove, they definitely do their part to get the job done. I'm looking forward to cleaning up some of those minor details."
Midview came out playing solid once again to open up the third set, trailing by one. However, Avon Lake's well-oiled machine kept it going with a 12-3 run to put it away. The Middies hung around for a while, but the Shoregals' hitters took over. During the run, Smith put down four straight balls in a row to end it with authority.
"When you go up, it's such a great feeling when you see the court and put it down," Smith said. "Then you come down and the whole team's just cheering, it's just so good."
Behind Smith and Kirk's 26 combined kills, Loeffler chipped in with seven. Both Meyer and Dani McArthur had 12 digs, and Kirk led with three aces. Tomasheski led Midview with 10 kills, while Sarah Riley had 12 assists and Kate Dolin had four aces.
Midview is back at home on Aug. 26 against North Olmsted before conference play resumes next week. Avon Lake is off until Aug. 29 when it hosts Amherst.
