Clarkston wins first regional volleyball title since 1976

Spirit of '76: Clarkston's Haley Barker and the Wolves' volleyball team celebrated their first Class A regional championship since 1976 Thursday with a 3-1 victory over Flushing. Staff Photo | Larry McKee, www.lmckeephotography.com

BY DAN STICKRADT

SENIOR EDITOR

dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com

ORTONVILLE — One of Clarkston’s first matches of the season came against Flushing, where the Wolves swept the Raiders in a late-August quad match.

Clarkston also defeated Flushing on Thursday — this time on a much bigger stage.

The Wolves, who have not lost a game in nearly a month and have set a new school mark with fewest defeats in a season, rallied for a 3-1 triumph over the Raiders in a Class A regional final at Ortonville Brandon. Clarkston rallied for a 21-25, 25-11, 25-16, 25-22 victory.

The Wolves, which has posted a school record .923 winning percentage this season with a 48-3-1 record, advances to the state quarterfinals Tuesday at Owosso. Clarkston, honorable mention in the posts despite its lofty record, will face third-ranked Farmington Hills Mercy in an all-Oakland County quarterfinal.

Mercy defeated No. 6 Novi 3-2, also on Thursday, for the regional championship.

“This was a big night for us,” admitted Clarkston coach Kelly Avenall. “I think we started a little slow and lost that first game. But I think that was good for us, because it made us play higher.”

Clarkston has lost only three games this season in tournaments, Class B top-ranked North branch, Birmingham Seaholm and Novi, and that last loss came Oct. 16 at the Beast of the East tournament to Novi.

“One of the things for us was to get the girls to understand that we were good enough to get this far,” said Avenall. “We’ve played some pretty decent programs along the way this year. Whether we’ve gained any respect or not, I don’t know. But I know we are (in the Elite Eight).

“I think the thing for us has been the regional we’ve been in,” said Avenall. “Last season we lost to (Birmingham) Marian in the regional semifinals, lost to Troy two years ago and in (the fall of 2007) we lost to Marian in the regional finals. We’ve had a tough road with some great teams in our region, so we haven’t been able to go any further.”

Clarkston also lost to state-ranked East Lansing in the 2005 regional finals after taking a 2-0 lead in that game. The Wolves were also swept by Marian in the 1998 regional finals as well.

Clarkston had won districts in 10 of the past 16 seasons, but this was the first regional title since 1976. Current coach Kelly Avenall’s team was 0-2 in the regional finals in her previous seven years at the helm.

Alexis Egler, who will sign Friday with Youngstown State, led Clarkston with 14 kills, while classmate and fellow Division I college recruit Allison Reis (Niagara) added 10 kills for the Wolves. Stephanie Marani added seven blocks, Maddie Lightfoot chipped in with 22 digs and Jessica Frakes had nine kills for Clarkston.

“I had about 20 people ask me who the MVP was in this game, and I would have to say Jessica Frakes,” offered Avenall. “She didn’t lead us in any one category, but she had some really big kills at the right times.”

Flushing’s Becca Kujat and Emily Wendling caused Clarkston some problems on the night, and helped lead the Raiders to its 1-0 lead. Flushing’s size kept the Wolves off balance before Avenall made some adjustments in the final three games.

“The first game we were really flat. Flushing has two outstanding outside hitters and I  knew about them coming in,” she said. “We really struggled blocking them, especially in the first game. We talked to the girls about blocking them, making the adjustments. We worked on timing and I think we go into (Flushing’s) heads a little bit.”

Kujat had 12 kills, Wendling added 11 kills and Connor Morrish slammed nine kills for Flushing. Lauren Fenton supplied 31 assists and 15 digs for the Raiders (29-16-5).

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Category: Clarkston, Prep Wraps