Title Defense: Clarkston volleying for another league championship

BY DAN STICKRADT

SENIOR EDITOR

dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com

CLARKSTON — Successful programs often pay the price of entering each season with a large target on its back. That is what Clarkston expects again this season in volleyball.

Coming off three straight seasons of 40-plus wins, the Wolves open up their title defense in the OAA Red Division volleyball race not only as one of the favorites, but a team that every opponent will want to knock off.

“When you start to win, you kind of become the bad guy that nobody likes,” laughed Clarkston head coach Kelly Avenall, who is at the start of her ninth season with the Wolves. “Teams start circling you on their calendar.”

Clarkston was 43-9-2 in 2009 and backed that up with perhaps their best season in school history in 2010, finishing a school record 48-4-1. The Wolves not only won the OAA-Red last year, but added district and regional titles to their resume and reached the Class A state quarterfinals for the second time in school history, where they fell to Farmington Hills Mercy (3-1).

LEAPING ABOVE THE PACK: Clarkston's volleyball program has had plenty of reasons in celebrate in recent years, winning five league titles in the past eight seasons and district championships in 10 of the previous 16 seasons. The Wolves are the four-time defending OAA Red Division champs. File Photo | Dan Stickradt

In the postseason, Clarkston has done well during the past 15 seasons. In that span, the Wolves have won 10 districts (1997, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007-fall, 2008, 2009, 2010). Also in this time frame, Clarkston has reached the regional finals (Sweet 16) four times (1998, 2007, 2005, 2010) and the quarterfinals once.

Despite graduating seven players from its stellar 2010 squad, Clarkston is back to its usual level of play, entering the week with a fine 13-0-0 start. Among that unbeaten mark were victories over Flushing, a team that Clarkston defeated in the regional finals last season, and a victory over perennial powerhouse North Branch.

“We’ve beaten North Branch before, but not this early in the season,” admitted Avenall, whose team was extremely deep last season with more than 10 players gaining regular minutes in each game. “We beat them in a tournament late last season, but also lost to them in a quad early last season.

“Flushing was the only team that beat us in a (single) game,” continued Avenall. “they beat us I think 25-19 and we came back and beat them the next two games (to take the match).”

Clarkston has won five league titles in Avenall’s first eight seasons, including the past four in the OAA Red Division. The Wolves also finished second once, third another time and fifth (2004) in Avenall’s tenure, the only time in nearly two decades Clarkston did not finish in the top half of the league.

Simply put, Clarkston is a model of consistency and one of the more successful public schools in Oakland County in recent years in the sport.

The departure of seven players — six of them are playing in college and three are at the Division I level — has left the door open for newer players to step up in the limelight.  Standouts Allison Reis (Niagara), Alexis Egler (Youngstown State), Haley Barker (Central Michigan), Megan McCarty, Jamie Goryca and Jessica Frakes, all who saw significant minutes on the court, departed by way of graduation.

Others stepping up to fills those vacated roles is exactly what has transpired at Clarkston over the first two weeks of the season.

“We do bring back a couple of key players from last season, but we also have a couple of girls that played some last season that have improved a lot, “praised Avenall. “I guess when you practice with a lot of very good players and you play as many games as we did last season (53), then it gives you a shot to gain some experience.”

Stephanie Mirani, a 6-foot-1 senior middle blocker who earned All-Area Second Team honors last season, set the single-season school record for blocks with 174 last year. Mirani, who has verbaled to Princeton, has again emerged as a valuable asset in the middle for Clarkston.

Maddie Lightfoot, a 5-4 libero who recently committed to New Hampshire, and 5-9 junior outside hitter Rachel Dickerson also started some games last season.

Angela Niezgoda, a 5-4 senior defensive specialist, and 5-10 junior outside hitter Kaley Konharevich, are the other players that return with varsity experience and have seen expanded roles, while 5-9 sophomore setter Brianna Frakes and 5-10 sophomore middle hitter Katie Chadwell have also impressed in their debut seasons

“The opportunity is there for a lot of girls to kind of step up into new roles,” said Aveall. “I guess that’s what is so surprising is the way we have played with a lot of new girls. We are not making the type of mistakes that you would expect from a young team that has a lot of newcomers or players who didn’t play a ton last season. They are (learning) very quickly.”

Clarkston will open OAA Red Division play against Rochester Adams, which finished 35-6-2 last year and won the OAA White Division crown. The Highlanders, along with Oxford, have moved up to the OAA’s top division and join the fray along with Clarkston, Lake Orion, Birmingham Seaholm, Rochester and Bloomfield Hills Lahser. Troy and Troy Athens dropped down to the OAA White Division.

Clarkston, Lake Orion and Seaholm are expected to be the top teams in the division this season.

“Based on what everyone has, I would be surprised if someone else ends up winning the league, but you never know for sure,” offered Avenall, whose team finished 8-0-0 in regular league play last season and also won the conference tournament. “You know that we’ll get everybody’s best game this year.”

GIRLS VOLLEYBALL TEAM CAPSULES: http://northoaklandsports.com/2011/09/07/girls-volleyball-team-capsules/

MORE VOLLEYBALL: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Volleyball&x=8&y=12

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