By Michael Marts, The Report
TRENTON — “Job’s not finished” was preached by senior middle blocker Hayden Honchul after the Edgewood High School boys volleyball team defeated the Fairmont Firebirds in a three-set sweep 25-23, 25-22, 25-23 on Monday night.
With the win, the Cougars have advanced in the OHSAA state tournament for the first time since 2017.
Edgewood coach Mark Blair loved his team’s intensity in Monday’s contest.
“Yeah they really did,” Blair said. “They brought good energy from the very beginning, and sometimes we have a good energy for a little while, and lose that, or we don’t start with a good energy, and find it a little bit later or something. Yeah, as far as consistent energy from the start to the very end, they had it all working tonight.”
Senior outside hitter Jonah Combs had three aces and 10 kills to lead the Cougars.
“They were really challenging,” Combs said. “They were moving the ball around the net. It was hard to keep up with, and served tough, but we were able to push through, and you know adjust to the changes, and come out with the win.”
Fairmont took the regular season meeting against the Cougars in a two-game sweep 28-26, 25-14. However, the Cougars were short-handed.
“Yeah, so it was a different situation,” Blair said. “It was early in the season, we had just gotten our libero back (Tanner Taggart) from wrestling season, so he really hadn’t practiced with us at all. We were playing in two separate gyms JV and varsity at the same time, so we didn’t have the same options that we had on the bench, although our starters played amazing tonight.”
Honchul is confident that the Cougars can keep the momentum going.
“I think so,” Honchul said. “Previously, in the year we lost to them, so I think our momentum from the second half of the season helped us push through this game.”
Honchul said the win tops his favorite moment as an EHS volleyball player.
“Number one, I mean my freshman year we had three wins, so to come out and have a 16-win season, and continue it with a playoff game, I feel like we got to keep going, it’s now or never,” he said.
The Cougars are now winners of 11 of 12 and will head up I-675 to take on the fifth-seeded Beavercreek Beavers at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, May 8.
Combs believes his team will have to perform well to keep advancing in the post-season.
“Beavercreek is always a solid squad,” Combs said. “They’re very technical. We’re going to have to put the ball in the court, keep it in play and find the easy spots to get to, easy way to score and play simple volleyball. That’s it.”
Michael Marts is a senior at Edgewood High School and The Report’s Cougars beat writer. To provide content for The Report, email us at [email protected] for more information!
