Coffman departs Vermilion for Avon

Kara Coffman is goal-oriented, and she had reached so many of her objectives as the head coach of Vermilion volleyball for the last three seasons. "I felt very content at Vermilion," Coffman said. "I felt like I did a lot of things, and what was I gonna do next? My next goal was to coach at a D-I school." Coffman has officially reached that next step — last week she accepted the head coaching position at Avon High School. She wasn't "looking to leave" the Sailors, she said, but rather keeping her eyes open for that next step and saw the Avon opening and applied. "I got the job, and I'm really excited about it," Coffman said. Coffman led the Sailors to a 63-13 record in three seasons. That included the first two league championships and first two district titles in program history. The list of accomplishments is long, including the Division II Coach of the Year in the state in 2021. Vermilion started that season 26-0 before falling in the regional final to Gilmour Academy. The Sailors repeated as SBC Lake Division champions in 2022, a second consecutive 12-0 run through the league. A second district crown seemed less likely, though. The third-seeded Sailors upset second-seeded Lexington in the semifinals to set up a championship match with the No. 4 team in the state, Millbury Lake, which was also unbeaten. And then Vermilion dropped the first two sets of the final. But the Sailors stormed back for a five-set victory. They fell in the regional semifinal to state No. 1 Bishop Hartley, finishing the best run in program history with a combined 48-5 record in the last two seasons. "It was a really tough decision to leave," Coffman said, "but I'm really proud of everything that was accomplished in my time at Vermilion." Coffman joins an Avon program that went 9-14 in 2022, including 7-7 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. Prior to two down seasons, the Eagles went a combined 140-22 from the 2013-14 season through the 2020-21 season under head coach Julie Bendzuck. They also wear an almost identical purple and gold color sc "Everybody speaks very highly about Avon athletics," Coffman said. "They're known for being good at pretty much everything, which makes it a very enticing school to go coach at. We had a scrimmage this summer where Avon was there, and that was the team I wanted to scrimmage to see where we're at, by scrimmaging against them." Avon's leading two hitters in 2022 were freshman Londyn Stone (262 kills) and junior Grace Busold (180 kills), so Coffman is set to inherit some talent. Setter Lily Hamilton (460 assists) also just played her freshman season. Vermilion graduates its top six players in sets played, including program greats Maddie Stout and Gracie Starcovic. The new coach will inherit a strong middle-hitting pair, Aubree Kennedy and Meagan Rini, along with two promising current sophomores, Peyton Logsdon and Claire Bartlome. "Whoever gets the job, they're walking into a program that is set up for success," Coffman said. "They have all the tools to keep being successful there." Coffman, who played volleyball at Rocky River High School and Division II Clarion (Pa.) University, will also teach at Avon. She's spent the past two years as a math teacher at VHS. The SBC Lake Division's top-three finishers from 2022 will all have new coaches in the fall. Bellevue (Karen Irons retired) and Perkins (Heath Hamilton stepped down) already had openings. Behind Vermilion, the Lady Red and Pirates tied for second place at 8-4.