GIRLS VOLLEYBALL: Oakland Christian wins district in most unusual way
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
WATERFORD — Winning a district championship is always one of the realistic goals for talented volleyball teams. Auburn Hills Oakland Christian has captured its fair share of them over the last four-plus decades.
Yet, this year’s district trophy was earned in an unusual matter.
First, there were only four schools in Oakland Christian’s district that pre-registered teams for the tournament and didn’t opt out, as several small school across the state did so for this COVID-shortened season. Second, the state-ranked Lancers only had to physically win one match.
After defeating Clarkston Everest Collegiate 3-0 on Monday night (25-18, 25-19, 25-15), ninth-ranked Oakland Christian was supposed to battle eighth-ranked and district host Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes Thursday.
It didn’t materialize.
Our Lady of the Lakers (16-4-0) had several players that were either exposed to persons who allegedly had COVID, or tested positive, so Oakland Christian posted the 3-0 shutout via forfeit. Lakes did not have enough players available to compete in the district finals due to the unfortunate circumstances.
“It’s sad because I think everyone really wanted to play them,” said first-year Oakland Christian coach Brian Theut, no stranger to volleyball in Metro Detroit either as a head coach or an assistant coach at various schools. “I think if we played each other and whoever won — it validates the rankings.”
Theut said some around his program almost felt cheated of the almost free pass of having to win only one district match, as if searching for the validation of not actually beating Our Lady of the Lakes on the court.
Oakland Christian (17-3-0) will host a regional next week, and as a state-ranked team should be the favorites.
“The strange thing is that no one really knows where they truly stand because you’re not playing some of the best teams from around the state (in various divisions) at big tournaments,” noted Theut. “You’re playing the teams in your league and maybe some other good programs (in quads) in your area. But there are no big tournaments every weekend with a bunch of state-ranked teams in them. We’ve barely played 20 games. You play in three (weekend) tournaments alone and you can play 17-18 games if you do well. That’s around what we’ve played the entire season.”
Still, Oakland Christian has enjoyed a successful season besides winning the district title. The Lancers finished a perfect 10-0 inside the MIAC Blue Division after winning the MIAC-Red last season.
Winning the MIAC-Blue can help put things in perspective because over the last 25 seasons, the league has recorded two state champions, five teams that finished as the state runner-up, five more teams that ended runs in the state semifinals and 11 more squads that were ousted in the state quarterfinals round.
This is Oakland Christian’s best team since finishing as the state runner-up in 2016. The Lancers dropped sharply in 2017 with almost an entirely new roster and have built back up over the past four seasons.
Seniors Kaylee Page and Katie Hopkins and juniors Olivia Colletti Micah Tyson and Anna Frazee have led Oakland Christian all season and should be candidates for various postseason honors.
“We’re hoping to make a run (to the Final Four),” said Theut. “At small school, if you have a quality setter and a couple of hitters you can go a ways. We seem to (check the boxes) and we’re solid defensively. We hope to put it all together and make it (to Battle Creek).”
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