Since the Ohio High School Athletic Association formally approved boys’ volleyball as a varsity sport, the Geauga County rivalry between the Berkshire Badgers and Chardon has leaned heavily in the Hilltoppers’ favor. The Badgers have now tilted the scales, by defeating Chardon 25-19, 19-25, 25-20, 25-15 to cap off a season sweep last Thursday evening in Burton.
“We are not out of the woods yet; we may see them again when we square up for the regional playoffs, but Chardon always puts up a good team and Thursday was no different,” noted Coach Tim Percic. “They are missing a couple of pieces this year so now the shoe is on the other foot. We are happy to be on that side of the equation.”
When boys’ volleyball was officially recognized as a varsity sport, the Badgers (9-4, 5-0) started fast by beating Chardon in their program debut two years ago. Since then, the Hilltoppers have been the top team by owning a five-match winning streak entering this year, including ousting Berkshire in the OHSAA Division II playoffs in consecutive seasons.
The 2025 season has brought a change of fortune to the Badgers,x as they now hold the advantage in the Geauga County rivalry having now swept the season series.
According to the five-year coach, frequently struggling against Chardon had been something his players had grown weary of especially after a second straight year when the Hilltoppers ended Berkshire’s hopes in the postseason.
“When you play a rival team, there is no such thing as an off year or an off season, you put all of your cards on the table and play,” he added. “Certainly, we take it seriously, but when you are on the wrong end of the win-loss column for a few times in a row, getting on the right end of it is not only a relief but it feels good too.”
More importantly, in addition to earning the season sweep and staying undefeated in conference play, Berkshire’s win against the Hilltoppers marked their sixth victory in the last seven matches. On Thursday evening, the teams were deadlocked at 14-14 in the third set after each had won one set. After the Badgers claimed the first set 25-19, Chardon responded by winning the second 25-19.
Percic acknowledged that Berkshire struggled with consistency in the second set. Although the Badgers fell short, he said he saw his team find that consistency toward the end of the set by going on a brief run, trimming Chardon’s lead, to only five points before the Hilltoppers cinched the second frame.
“Obviously, we are going for the win, but we don’t lose hope or let our heads down,” Percic said. “We rattled off four or five straight points very decisively and just a bad break ended it for us, but going into the third set it was close but at that point I felt a lot more confident that we could do it.”
Berkshire swung the momentum in its favor fueled by mini-runs and did not allow the Hilltoppers to have any sort of sustained scoring spurts. By stifling Chardon from going on any sort of run, the Badgers maintained control to win the third set by a 25-20 margin.
Percic said whether it is because of experience by having the same exact line-up from last season or just the benefit of prevailing in clutch situations this year, the Badgers do not wither at those tough moments.
“It all comes down to confidence. In a volleyball match, you can’t lack confidence because it is a game that is 100% about accountability.” he said. “If you miss a serve, everybody in the gym immediately knows that you missed a serve. You as the server know you missed the serve; you as the server have to accept that result and know that the only play you can now affect is the next play.”
In the fourth set, the Badgers seized the advantage by riding their hot stretch of play from the previous set to sail to a 25-15 victory for their fifth consecutive home court victory.
“It is that emotional high we started riding on and it takes confidence to keep it going in the right direction and I saw it in our players, and they saw it in each other,” Percic said. “Confidence is infectious.”
Following a home match against Villa Angela-St. Joseph on Tuesday evening, Berkshire will return to the court to welcome Geauga County foe Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin on April 29 at 6 p.m.
