Adena’s season comes to end with state semifinal loss to Mentor Lake Catholic

Brock Netter, Staff Writer

Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.

FAIRBORN — Adena’s seniors ended their careers the same way they began them. 

Three years ago, they were a part of the Warriors’ last team to grace the court at Wright State University in Final 4 action. 

Since then, they’ve been on a mission to reclaim that state spot.

Thursday, they saw their hard work pay off with yet another appearance at Wright State University’s EJ Nutter Center.

But unfortunately, it was the end of their destination as the Warriors suffered a 25-10, 25-8, 25-16 loss to Mentor Lake Catholic in a Division V state semifinal. 

“They’re a resilient group,” Adena coach Laura Smith said. “When we’ve been down in matches this season, they’ve always found a way to score and to make it happen. They don’t usually get down on themselves. They did that today.”

“At the end, I asked them, ‘Are you crying because we lost or are you crying because this is over with?’ They said that it was because it was over. It’s been fun to go to practice. I never dreaded going. They wanted to be coached and they wanted to get better. You just want them to succeed because they work so hard.”

Maybe it was the bright lights of the largest volleyball stage in the state, but the magnitude of the moment was completely overwhelming in the opening set for the Warriors. 

Adena (24-4) wasn’t moving its feet, nor communicating defensively well. The Warriors quickly found themselves down 7-3. 

Between Lake Catholic’s superb play at both the net and the service line, the quartet of Natalya and Avery Bergant, alongside Avery and Ava Budrys Rini, the Cougars presented problems the Warriors couldn’t solve.

The lead grew to 10-4 and 13-5, and went to 20-9 before the Cougars (23-4) closed out. 

That trend continued in the second set.

Adena got within 4-3, following a kill and block from Katie Burns, but LC was about to take over. 

Behind Ahnna and Natalya Bergant, they went on a 10-0 run, pushing the lead to 14-3 and keeping the pedal to the metal as they maintained a double-digit lead throughout the set, taking a 2-0 match lead.

“Our defense is pretty good,” Smith said. “But we haven’t seen a ball come at us that hard all of the time. They rarely tipped. They just swing, and they serve tough. That was one of our big things. We serve receive pretty well. But that ball was coming hard and they all were doing that. But I’m proud of them. They didn’t give up.”

The Warriors showed some fight and played with the scrappiness that got them to Dayton in the third, taking an 8-6 lead. 

But that energy was short-lived. 

The Cougars fed the ball to Ava Burdys Rini and Natalya Bergant, which paid off richly with a 9-1 run to take a 15-9 lead. From that point, they put things in cruise control and ended the Warriors’ season.

Adena will be forced to bid adieu to seniors Corinne Day, Kamryn Sowers, Layla Halm and Kayla Grooms — a group that helped the Warriors go 91-17 over the past four seasons with three conference titles.

“These kids knew how to win,” Smith said. “They put in their time and they had the heart to put in their time on the JV team. They won the SVC championship on that team. I just can’t say enough about how much they’ve worked. We weren’t the strongest in every position, but we worked so well together.”

Having said that, the Warriors will look to the 2025 season, where they’ll welcome the return of multiple starters — who now have state tournament experience.

“It’s possible [to advance to the state tournament],” Smith said. “It just takes a lot of work. We’ve got some younger kids coming that are going to have to fit into that mix. We had some kids brought up to dress varsity, just for the tournament season. They’ve learned a lot just from being at practice. I’m excited to work with them.”

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