The Berkshire Badgers boys’ volleyball team will end their regular season still searching for momentum after being swept by Geauga County and Northeast Ohio Boys Volleyball League rival Chardon 25-17, 25-18, and 25-23 last Thursday evening in Burton.
“Of course, when you are in a competitive sport you want to come out on top,” said Coach Tim Percic. “While it was a 3-0 sweep, we kept it close in the third set and I thought we might be able to pull one off there. We did manage to get some blocks and some digs and some passes to go our way and what not, but they just had a better team.”
If the Badgers (10-10, 4-6) triumph against Glenville in the first round of the Ohio High School Athletic Association Division II Region 7 postseason on Tuesday and defeat either Geauga County rival Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin or East Technical in the second round on Thursday, they would compete in the regional semifinal on May 19 at 6 p.m.
“We are hoping for a positive result if that is what we face and that remains to be seen and then somehow if we prevail over Chardon, we most likely will be squaring off with Independence who seems like a boulder rolling down the mountain right now toward the state tournament,” noted the six-year coach.
A year after sweeping the Hilltoppers in the regular season series, Chardon reigned supreme in the Geauga County rivalry by sweeping the Badgers for the second time in three years.
On Thursday, Berkshire entered the third set trailing 2-0 after the Hilltoppers won 25-17 and a 25-18 in the first two sets but put forth a resilient effort in the final frame.
According to Percic, the Badgers held a four-point lead, but Chardon responded by taking a four-point advantage and it was a tightly contested set, with the score was tied at 22-22 in the final stages.
The teams traded points once again creating a deadlock at 23-23 but Chardon scored two unanswered points to pull away 25-23 and complete the sweep.
“They had some key players and some key positions that are outstanding,” added Percic. “I think they served at us, and we did not get a solid attack; I think we just put them across the net to keep the play alive and they drilled it back at us and that was generally how it was.”
Percic acknowledged that the Hilltoppers had an accurate serving game and had more offensive weapons they could lean on throughout the match including a primary scoring option in senior middle blocker Ian Galati, while the Badgers’ scoring by committee approach was not as effective.
Although Berkshire has given several players more scoring opportunities this season, Percic conceded that a true scoring threat has yet to distinguish himself, which has made things challenging in late-match situations.
“It is such a high-pressure sport that what a relief it would be to send it to the outside pin and let somebody drill the ball and live and die by that shot and know it is going to be good more often than not but that is not our team composition,” Percic said.
In the first two sets, the Hilltoppers’ service game was sparked with some dynamic serves that put the Badgers in an early hole, something that Percic said the team is familiar with and has consistently needed to battle back to gain momentum, and the success rate is far from 100% in those circumstances.
“Playing from behind is more difficult because our talent is more spread out whereas you can’t just dump it off to one person and expect him to carry the team,” Percic said. “We have to distribute it and a lot of people have to participate in the rally and it is more complicated.”
Although the Badgers are ending the regular season on a three-match losing streak, winning only one set during that stretch, its final two matches have occurred against the top teams in their bracket in Independence, the top-ranked team, and Chardon, who is ranked as the second seed.
Percic said that having the last two matches against the top two teams in the bracket may have not resulted in immediate success but found it to be good preparation for a young Badgers’ squad that only fields one senior this year.
“We got a taste of what the top two teams are like and if we can find our way to meeting them in the playoffs, we know what we are up against,” Percic said. “Sometimes that is enough to spark your team into overcoming what was a difficult task.”
