For the first time since the 2017 season, the Chagrin Valley Conference Valley Division title will belong outright to Berkshire. The Badgers dominated CVC Valley Division rival Beachwood in a 25-11, 25-12, 25-8 to capture sole possession of the conference banner last Thursday evening at Beachwood High School.
“I was glad,” said Coach Joan Prots. “Sometimes you can come in and be flat especially when the conference title is clinched. I was happy with the way we came in and played and took care of business and got the job done.”
Entering the match, the Badgers (18-4, 9-1) had already clinched a share of the CVC Valley Division banner for the second straight season but needed one more conference victory to win the conference title outright.
For most of the season, the Badgers sat in second place in the conference after losing a match against conference powerhouse Kirtland on Sept. 12. It seemed that even if Berkshire defeated the Hornets in the re-match, they would still have to settle for a share of the t title just like last season.
After the Hornets were upset by Crestwood on Sept. 18, Berkshire caught its second wind.
“We definitely had a lot of momentum coming in and we just wanted to finish it and win it all,” said junior outside hitter Kate Miller.
Berkshire made the most of its second chance and triumphed against the Hornets on Oct. 1, surging into first place in the conference and needing to finish the remainder of their conference schedule undefeated in order to wrap up the CVC Valley Division banner.
On Thursday night, Berkshire showed it understood its assignment with an 8-0 run through Miller’s service game to take a commanding 14-3 lead in the first set. Miller recorded five consecutive aces and six overall before Beachwood finally scored a point.
According to Miller, having a dominant service game was a nice change of pace for the Badgers.
“I was really trying to place it in the seams so I tried to get a deep flow in between two players,” she said. “Once you pick up on who is struggling and servicing (???) it is easy to place the ball. This season we have actually been struggling with service errors so on Thursday night we just tried on eliminating the errors and just get the ball on the court and it really helps when you do because it gives you a lot of opportunity for aces.”
Berkshire rolled to a 25-11 victory in the first set and used another big run in the second set to assume control. After Beachwood knotted the score at 3-3, the Badgers went on a 6-0 run through the service game of junior setter Marissa Rish, who posted three aces to push Berkshire ahead 9-3.
In a game that revolves around runs, Berkshire had a big run in it in each set enabling them to dictate the match from start to finish.
In the third set, Berkshire pulled away from the Bison by going on a 6-0 run fueled by some strong serves by Rish and also a dominant attack from the front row.
Although the Badgers Maddie Smetana, one of the most dominant outside hitters in school history graduated last year, Prots acknowledged that losing Smetana opened up new roles for some other proficient hitters in the front row and that has diversified Berkshire’s offense.
“I actually think it made us better,” the 20-year coach noted. “We spread the ball more and it is a little bit less predictable with our offense and I have even had opposing coaches say that it does make us a little harder to defend because we do have more than just Maddie that we can go to when we need a clean kill.”
Prots added that in the wake of Smetana’s graduation, the Badgers’ front row has been fueled by Rish and Miller and senior outside hitter Jillian Smetana, all whom have spurred Berkshire’s offense to becoming multi-dimensional players.
After securing the CVC Valley Division championship, the Badgers’ reaction was a measured celebration as the team has set higher goals than just winning the conference title.
“We accomplished our first goal but our second goal is to take a deep tournament run so that is now where we have to re-focus, reset and start working at practice,” Prots said.
If Berkshire defeats CVC Valley Division foe Wickliffe in the first round of the Ohio High School Athletic Association Division V tournament on Thursday night, it would face either Norwayne or Pymatuning Valley in the semifinal on Oct. 22 in Burton at 5 p.m.
