The Berkshire Badgers boys’ volleyball’s three-match losing streak came to an end when they rallied to overcome Geauga County and Northeast Ohio Boys Volleyball League rival Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin in a five-set thriller 20-25, 31-29, 12-25, 25-20 and 17-15 last Friday evening at the McGarry Gymnasium in Chardon.
“Kudos to NDCL, they were not going to give us anything,” said Coach Tim Percic. “We had to fight and scrap for everything. In the first set, I would normally say it was uncharacteristic, but we had been on a three-match skid, so this has been our problem, coming out of these deficits.”
The Badgers (4-4, 2-2) captured their first victory in the month April, losing three consecutive matches including losses against NEOBVL rivals Chardon and Independence. Berkshire snapped its losing streak against a familiar foe in the Lions, who they now have a seven-match winning streak against, having swept the season series against its Geauga County rivals for the last three seasons entering this year.
“It is great playing against them,” the six-year coach said. “They have a solid team this year, a lot better than they have had the last couple of years so kudos to them, they were making us earn our points.”
On Friday, Berkshire played from behind throughout the match and were close to their its fourth straight loss after losing the third set 25-12.
After the teams traded points at the beginning of the fourth set, junior outside hitter/middle hitter Danny Starr keyed a 5-0 run by recording three consecutive aces, pushing the Badgers’ advantage to 10-4 and maintaining a comfortable lead, winning the fourth set 25-20 to force a fifth and decisive final set.
It was a back-and-forth affair in the fifth set, with neither team building a lead greater than one point until the Badgers went on a 4-0 run to take a 13-9 lead.
The Lions responded with a 5-1 run, tying the match at 14-14, sending it into sudden death when the first team to take a two-point lead would clinch victory.
According to Starr, the Badgers had not battled all the way back just to stumble in the final moments.
“It just clicked in all of our brains that we can’t fight this hard this entire match just to let it drop in the last set,” he said.
NDCL went ahead 15-14 when senior outside hitter Brennan Kogoshek recorded a kill, but the Badgers tied the match when Starr responded with a kill and Berkshire went ahead when the Lions hit the ball into the net.
Senior outside hitter/defensive setter Roman Percic sealed the victory as he recorded the match-winning kill, completing the Badgers’ comeback.
Coach Percic said Berkshire’s first victory of the month could not have come at a better time, as it is scheduled to face its NEOBVL rivals in a series of re-matches in the second half of the season.
“I didn’t want to come into this stretch of our schedule on a four-match losing streak,” he added. “We want to come in with as much as positivity and spirit as we can.”
The Badgers’ season has been filled with inconsistency, as they have either played matches plagued with unforced mental errors or have shown tremendous grit and resiliency to battle back and claim victory from overwhelming deficits.
At the beginning of the match against the Lions the Badgers were riddled with inconsistent play, and Coach Percic acknowledged that his squad looked like a team that had been through a three-match slide, having not won a set since its five-set victory against Villa Angela-St. Joseph on March 31.
The Badgers’ slow start carried into the second set, with NDCL holding a 15-8 lead at the halfway point but Berkshire trimmed NDCL’s lead by going on an 11-4 run, tying the match at 19-19.
Although NDCL countered with a 5-4 run to hold a 24-23 lead, the Badgers rallied to tie the match at 24-24 and faced set point several times but always evened the score before finally snatching a 31-29 victory to even the match at 1-1.
Berkshire’s momentum from its comeback victory in the second set faded, as the Lions dominated the third set to win 25-12.
“It was rough,” said Starr. “We figured out how to play but it was just the fact that we had not been playing like that, so we had to take a minute, collect ourselves, let it click completely and then move forward.”
After a pair of road matches against league foes Eastlake North on Tuesday and VASJ on Thursday, Berkshire will host its annual tournament on Saturday morning in Burton beginning at 9 a.m.
