When powers collide: Clarkston takes down Lake Orion for OAA Red Division title
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
LAKE ORION — The powers that be in the OAA volleyball circles that put together the scheduling couldn’t have set the OAA Red Division table any better than this year.
The division title was decided in the final week of league season featuring two state-ranked teams.
Clarkston outlasted Lake Orion in a five-game marathon thriller Tuesday, 3-2, to put the finishing touches on its fifth straight OAA-Red title and sixth in nine seasons. The match was one of the most highly-anticipated volleyball showdowns in the 17-year history of the Oakland Activities Association.
SETTING IT STRAIGHT: Clarkston's Brianna Frakes places the ball at the net for a teammate during Tuesday's OAA Red Division showdown with Lake Orion. Photo By Larry Wright, www.wrightactionpix.com
The Wolves (40-5-0) won the first two games, 26-24 and 25-23, with Lake Orion earning wins in the third and fourth sets, 25-21, 25-18 to set up the fifth-and deciding game. Clarkston prevailed in that set, 15-10, to fend off Lake Orion, which most coaches around the league picked to win the league this season.
“This one aged me,” sighed Clarkston coach Kelly Avenall. “I kind of expected this type of game.”
This is the first time since the 1997-98 winter season that the OAA-Red/Division I was decided on the final week of the league season. That year Birmingham Seaholm edged Rochester Adams for the crown.
This time the stage couldn’t have been bigger for a league championship match. Clarkston entered the game ranked fourth in Class A, having defeated Lake Orion at the Michigan Elite-Beast of the East Tournament last Saturday. Lake Orion entered fifth in Class A, posting a 2-1 record against Clarkston in tournaments this season.
Clarkston reached the state quarterfinals last season, while Lake Orion advanced to the Sweet 16. The Dragons returned 12 players from last year’s team and entered the season as the league favorite.
“This was supposed to be our year,” offered Lake Orion coach Bob Howey, whose program last won a league title in the winter of 2007. “What are you going to do.”
Lake Orion rallied back from a two games to none deficit to forge a fifth game. The Dragons (37-11-5, 6-1) couldn’t not sustain the momentum.
WRONG ANGLE: Clarkston's Rachel dickerson hits the ball right into the block of Lake Orion's Sophie Murdock (No. 22) and Taylor Hargraves (No. 4) during Tuesday's showdown. Dickerson had a match-high 22 kills to lead the Wolves to the five-set triumph. Staff Photo | Dan Stickradt
“I thought we had it .I don’t know what happened,” noted Howey, whose team last lead was 6-5 in the third game. “Our serve receive kind of fell apart on us.”
Neither team could build more than a five-point lead in the first three games. In Game 4, Lake Orion built a 17-9 advantage, which proved to be the largest differential either team could bolster on the night.
Still Clarkston, which graduated over half of its team from last year and sent six players to the collegiate ranks, including three to Divisions I colleges, found a way to keep the senior-laden Dragons from gaining the crown.
“This summer there was a lot of scratching of the head, trying to figure out who’s going to step up,” said Avenall. “I think at this point, we’ve built a solid program where girls (who are) kind of in the background are chomping at the bit to step up and prove themselves. We knew we had a lot to work on in the offseason and a lot of empty spaces to fill. Like I said there were a lot of athletes (waiting in the wings).”
Rachel Dickerson had 15 kills alone in the first two games and helped stake the Wolves to a 2-0 lead. In fact, with the Dragons leading 23-21 in Game 2, it was a Dickerson kill that ignited a 4-0 run to close the set.
Lake Orion rode seniors Shannon Murdock and Liz Kalugar in the third and fourth games, respectively. The duo came through with multiple kills in the two-game rally.
Murdock led Lake Orion with 21 kills. Kalugar added 15 kills, Maddie Hutchinson had 41 digs and four aces and Gwen Motley contributed 51 assists and 11 digs for the Dragons.
Dickerson led Clarkston with a match-high 22 kills. Sarah Bullen added a season-high nine kills and Maddie Lightfoot contributed 24 digs for the Wolves (8-0 in league play).
Clarkston graduated seven players off last season team that also finished 8-0 in the league and set a school record with an overall 48-4-1 record.
GETTING AIRBORNE: Lake Orion's leaps high on the jump serve for the state-ranked Dragons. Staff Photo | Dan Stickradt
“I think the big thing was to not worry about all of the (players) that we lost (to graduation),” smiled Dickerson. “We couldn’t pretend that we were the team we had last year. We just needed to step up and work together and we’ve done a really good job at that.”
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Category: Clarkston, High School, High School (M-Z), Lake Orion, Prep Wraps
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