No. 1 Coventry flexes their muscles in win over Avon spikers

Coventry’s Marina Rose gets the ball past Avon’s Madison Mains in Wednesday night’s volleyball match in Avon. No. 1 Coventry prevailed, 3-1.

AVON – Finding a way to beat the Coventry High girls volleyball team continues to elude Avon. But the Falcons shouldn’t feel too bad. They’re in good company. The Patriots won their 59th straight match Wednesday night with a 3-1 decision over the Falcons.

Avon (6-1, 5-1 NCCC) became the first team to win a set from Coventry this fall by rallying from deficits as large as seven points to beat the Patriots, 27-25 in game two. But Coventry flexed their muscles in the remaining two games with dominating victories of 25-7 and 25-9.

It was the first set that Avon has taken from Coventry since 2009. “That was a breakthrough for us,” said long-time Avon High coach Curt Burns, who recently earned his 300th career victory behind the Falcon bench. “I told them to enjoy it. But at the same time, we should have been able to compete better in the next two games.”

Avon’s Jackie Greenberg celebrates winning a point.

Coventry’s 5-foot-9 hitter Marina Rose was virtually unstoppable with 21 kills, 22 digs and seven aces. Coventry coach Ryan Giberson told Max Preps.com that she is the best player in the state. Teammate Erika Trudon added 11 kills and 14 digs for the Patriots, who came into the match as the No. 1 ranked team in the state coaches poll.

“What killed us was the transition game,” Burns said. “If we didn’t get a good swing on the ball, they were able to pass, set and get a strong swing on the ball.”

No. 10 Avon struggled passing the ball to setter Claire Nelson, who still finished with 21 assists. Leading hitter, 5-foot-11 senior Jackie Greenberg, didn’t get a lot of good sets to hit. She finished with a team-high 10 kills.

The Falcons sent over a lot of free balls over the net, something that a top-ranked team can handle much easier than trying to dig up and successfully pass a hard spike off the floor.

Coventry raced out to a 12-1 lead in game one on the way to a convincing 25-13 decision. But the Patriots let Avon hang around in game two. “We don’t always know when to keep the pedal down and Avon is a good team. We played not to lose instead of being aggressive,” Giberson said.

“They pass pretty well,” Giberson said of Avon. “They’re scrappy. They don’t have the offensive weapons we have. They will make you earn it. They’re a ball control team. They have a high volleyball IQ, higher than most other teams.”

Before facing Coventry, Avon had won 18 of 19 sets this fall.

Burns is looking forward to a rematch with the Patriots  on Oct. 26 in Coventry and probably in the NCCC Tournament on Nov. 3 in either Coventry or Avon. “To play a team that good will only make us better,” Burns said.