Avon’s Grace Stevens tries to get the ball past a Cheshire defender during a scrimmage on Saturday in Avon. The Avon High volleyball hosts Simsbury in the season opener Friday.
AVON – For years, Avon was the big brother in the local rivalry dominating Canton in most sports. Now with the Falcons, the tables have turned.
Avon is no longer the biggest team in its league. Now in the Central Connecticut Conference with 32 other schools, the Avon boys are No. 23 in terms of size. The Avon girls are ranked No. 19.
The Falcons kick off their first campaign in the CCC Friday with three games with Simsbury. The Avon boys soccer team will face Simsbury for the first time in regular season game since 1973 when they travel to Holden Field for a 3:45 p.m. contest.
The Avon girls soccer team will host Simsbury at Fisher Meadows at 3:45 p.m. while the Avon High volleyball team hosts Simsbury at 5 p.m. in the gym.
Both Avon soccer teams are coming off trips to the Class L finals. The boys (16-1-4) shared a title with Branford while the girls (16-2-2) lost to Immaculate. The Avon boys are ranked No. 4 in the preseason state coaches poll while Simsbury is ranked No. 13
The Avon volleyball team (18-7) is playing Simsbury in the regular season for the first time since 2003 and are looking for their first win over the Trojans since 2002. “We’re excited about it,” Avon volleyball coach Curt Burns said of playing in the CCC. “We’re looking forward to the step up in competition. We’re a (Class) L school and we’re going to try and play as many Class L and (Class) M schools as possible.”
In most sports, Avon will be in the CCC Central White Division with two games each against Farmington, Northwest Catholic, Weaver, Bulkeley and Windsor along with single games against Conard, Hall, Glastonbury, Simsbury and Southington from CCC Central Blue.
There are six divisions including the CCC North White and CCC North Blue and the CCC South White and CCC South Blue.
In field hockey, Avon will be placed into the CCC South with Conard, Farmington, Glastonbury, Hall, Newington, Northwest Catholic and Simsbury. Avon, SImsbury and Glastonbury were each ranked in the top 10 in the state coaches poll last fall.
The Avon field hockey team opens the season with a challenging game at Glastonbury on Friday. The Tomahawks went 14-0-1 in the regular season last fall and won the CCC West championship while the Falcons shared the NCCC championship with Granby. “We have to play 16 games,” Avon coach Terri Ziemnicki said. “Whoever we play, we play. It’s a non-issue (new league) for me. I’m just looking to get our players to play good field hockey.”
You must be logged in to post a comment Login