The Berkshire Badgers’ volleyball soccer team ended its regular season with an exclamation point, overcoming a slow start to top Canfield 11-25, 25-21, 25-23, 25-19 last Saturday afternoon in Burton.
“We were obviously flat in the first set,” noted Coach Joan Prots. “It took us a little while to wake up and remember what we were as a team and come together as a team so once we did that, I told them how proud I was of the way that they came back and the way that they played.”
If Berkshire is victorious in its home playoff match against Champion in the Ohio High School Athletic Association Division V Northeast 2 sectional championship on Thursday, it will face either Orville or South Range in the district semifinal match on Oct. 21 at 7 p.m.
Although the regular season finale against Canfield was non-conference dual, it marked the 20th victory for the Badgers (20-2, 9-1), making them only the second team in school history under the 21year coach to achieve 20 victories in the regular season.
According to Prots, reaching the 20th victory threshold in the regular season spoke volumes about the 2025 squad, as she has seen her share of talented Badger teams in her long coaching career.
“It said a lot about this group and their competitiveness and hard work all season long,” she added. “They set goals. I don’t know if 20 wins was in the mindset at the time but when we were close enough, it became a goal.
Senior outside hitter Jillian Smetana said that the team wanted to reach 20 victories largely in part because of their dedication to Prots.
“She has been here for 20-somethig years, and we really wanted to do it for her and the team, so we just worked extra hard,” she said.
On Saturday, Berkshire experienced a slow start by falling behind 1-0, losing the first set 25-11. The Cardinals raced out to an early 12-4 advantage and never relinquished control, fueled by a 13-7 run to clinch victory.
The Badgers countered with a big run at the beginning of the second set, taking a 9-1 advantage with some precise serving and explosive offense, courtesy of Smetana who recorded three kills.
Canfield responded with a 14-6 run, knotting the score at 15-15 at the halfway point of the set but the Badgers recovered with a 10-6 run to win the set 25-21, evening the score at 1-1.
Prots acknowledged that the Badgers’ resiliency has been a strength this season and not something that the team has showed in years’ past.
“This group has been doing that all year,” she said. “In years’ past when we would have lost that first set, we would have been done for the day, but this group has been that way all year and they take their shots, sometimes get knocked back but usually they respond, and we have pulled out a lot of sets in a lot of matches.”
It was a tightly contested battle in the third set, as the teams traded points through punishing exchanges but it was once again the Badgers who found a big run when they needed it, using a 6-0 surge to take a 19-13 lead and wining the set 25-23.
During of the Badgers’ run, senior setter Marissa Rish recorded her 1,500th assist of her varsity career.
Rish said that it was an honor to reach that milestone, but it was an even sweeter accomplishment to achieve especially with the Berkshire program.
“I’ve said in the past that this team is special,” Rish said. “This is our first season where we have all gelled really well together. The past seasons have been okay, but I feel like everyone works together and I have so much fun in accomplishing that and it makes it so much better when it is with this team.”
In addition to Rish reaching 1,500 career assists, she also tallied 11 kills and one assist.
Prots praised the senior for her versatility over the course of her varsity career, as she has filled a variety of roles at Berkshire.
“For most of her career, I have asked her to be a hitter for four years and she has responded and has improved every year and I do think that this year and last year, she is hitting her peak in doing that,” she said.
Another closely contested fourth set had the teams trading points but the Badgers held an early 8-4 advantage and maintained control throughout the set, winning 25-19 to close out the regular season with a win against a talented Canfield squad.
