Moving on: Dragons roll past Avondale to reach regional finals for first time since 1988
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
OXFORD — The term Sweet 16 has a nice ring to it when it comes to sports. It sits quite fine with Lake Orion volleyball Bob Howey and his Dragons.
That’s exactly where the Dragons stand at the present time, as they downed Auburn Hills Avondale 3-1 in a Class A regional semifinal Tuesday at Oxford. Lake Orion advanced with a 25-11, 25-13, 23-25, 25-15 triumph over Avondale, which was making its first-ever appearance in the regional tournament.
The Dragons (41-15-6) are making their first appearance in the regional round since 1995 and have advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1988, the same year Lake Orion reached the Final Four.
Hammer time: Auburn Hills Avondale's Mariah Scholl laces this kill during tuesday's regional semifinal. Staff Photo | Larry McKee, www.lmckeephotography.com
“There’s 32 teams playing, but how much better does 16 sound than 32?” offered Howey. “It feels good. The school’s pumped up. The kids in the hallways, people are talking. We’re excited about Thursday.”
Lake Orion will face defending state champion Birmingham Marian (65-5-1) in the regional finals at Oxford Thursday at 7 p.m.
Sophie Murdock had eight kills, Taylor Hargraves added 11 kills, Linnea Berriman slammed six kills, Alyssa Wesley picked up 35 assists and Maddie Hutchinson scooped up 21 digs on the night for Lake Orion.
Marissa Aiello had eight kills for Avondale.
Lake Orion jumped all over Avondale in the first game, rolling out to leads of 7-2, 14-6 and 18-8 before going up 1-0 in the match standings. It was more of the same in Game 2, when the Dragons posted advantages of 7-4, 11-6 and 20-11. The Yellowjackets could get no closer than eight points in that game.
Avondale (19-18-2) finally got untracked in Game 3, fending off Lake Orion’s rally which tied the game at 22-22.
The Dragons were simply too much to overcome in the final game.
“I didn’t have to say much,” said Howey, referring to the break between the third and fourth game. “They knew they had to get it done right there.”
While the Dragons received their normal balance on offense, Hutchinson was crisp on defense with many fine digs and passes out of the back, many which led to points.
“She’s our best (player) right now for sure,” said Howey. “I don’t know where she’s at right now, but she has over a 1,000 digs this season. She set the school record. Alicia Roth had the record and she blew it away. She had something like 738 (digs).”
Avondale, which had two players out of the lineup with injuries, was never in full sync against the Dragons. The 2-0 deficit was too much to overcome.
“(Mistakes) hurt a little bit,” said Avondale coach Valerie Blanchette. “Our setter was having a hard time getting a good set for our hitters and we tried to adjust. Because we weren’t able to get the good hits off, we did some out-of-system hitting, which hurt us.
“I’m proud of these girls, because they overcame a lot,” added Blanchette. “(The defficit) was hard to overcome.”
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