Avon takes a game from Farmington but Indians remain in control of rivalry

Emily Dempsey (15) goes up for the block in Monday night’s CCC West game with Farmington as Sofia Berrio (18) covers on the play.

AVON, Oct. 2 – It’s been eight years since the Avon High girls volleyball team beat Farmington when the Falcons won a 3-2 decision in 2009. Since then, it’s been nine straight losses to the Indians including eight by shutout.

Farmington has been a powerhouse lately. The Indians won the Class L championship in 2015 and went to the finals a year ago.

But Avon coach Curt Burns is confident that his Falcons can play with Farmington and they showed it after a disappointing Game 1 when Avon scored just 11 points.

The Falcons rallied to win game two, 25-23 before the Indians grabbed game three. In the fourth game, Avon fought off five match points to tie the game at 24-24. But No. 5 Farmington ripped off three consecutive points to beat Avon for the tenth straight time, 3-1 on Monday night in a CCC West contest, 25-11, 23-25, 25-18, 26-24.

“I was disappointed how we came out (in game one) and we got rocked back on our heels,” Burns said. “I know we have the talent to play with Farmington this year. It’s a mental thing. Oh my God, it’s Farmington. Here we go again. They just outworked us.”

The Falcons struggled to receive the serve and pass the ball in the opener, quickly falling behind 10-2 and 22-9, scoring just 11 points in the game.

The Falcons celebrate winning a point when Braylee Braum (6) got a block in Monday’s CCC West loss to Farmington.

Avon (7-2) rallied in game two to beat the Indians for the first time since 2013, snapping a 12-game losing streak. And game four was a back-and-forth affair until Farmington opened a little breathing room. Tied at 18-18, the Indians took the lead with a pair of aces and won four of the next five points to take a 24-19 lead.

The Indians (7-1) had five match points. Maddie Hart had one of her match-high 23 kills, Audrey Worth had an ace, Hart had a block and the Falcons converted on a second block to tie the match at 24-24. But Farmington had three consecutive points to win the match.

“We responded,” Burns said. “We played better in the third game but it didn’t happen for us.”

Hart had a match-high 35 kills, five digs and a block while teammates Emily Dempsey and Sofia Berrio had four kills each. Worth had 35 assists and 14 digs while Breanne Braun had 16 digs for Avon.

Farmington had a more balanced attack with Kelly Swidorsky leading the Indians with 13 kills while Carolina Summa (12 kills) and Chardra Saunders (11 kills) also hit well. Katie Siuta had 20 assists while Carolyn Piera had 15 digs.

Avon travels to Groton on Wednesday to take on Fitch.