Lake Orion falls to Clarkston, 3-1

By Megan Kelley
Staff Writer
ORION TWP. — Lake Orion High School’s varsity volleyball team had a busy week last week facing two league opponents on Sept. 20 and 22 respectively.
The ladies took on Clarkston High School on Tuesday, falling to the Wolves 3-1 in the Dragons’ first league match of the season.
The ladies lost their first set 25-17. The Dragons came back hungry for a win in the second set, defeating the Wolves 25-23. Clarkston hit back in the third and fourth sets, defeating Lake Orion 25-21 and 25-16.
Senior and captain Nina Horning, a four year varsity player, lead the team in points with 32 kills and two aces. Junior Devin Brunk contributed 10 kills to the effort.
Junior Sydney Bell added 19 digs, while sophomore Addison Dukus and Brunk each had nine.
Lake Orion has lost to Clarkston twice before during non-league tournaments earlier this season.
On Thursday, the ladies hosted the Adams High School Highlanders, securing their first OAA Red win with a 3-0 sweep.
The Dragons’ dominated in the first set, defeating Adams 25-15. In the second set, the Highlanders gave Lake Orion a run for their money but were ultimately defeated 25-23. The Lake Orion ladies ended the night with a 25-16 win in the third and final set.
“I was happy how we played in sets one and three. For us, that’s kind of how the season’s going. We play a good set and then a bad set,” said head coach Tony Scavarda. “To get a sweep in league is always big. It’s a really competitive league so we’re always happy if we can get a sweep on a team.”
Horning and Brunk lead the team in kills again with 20 and 12 receptively. Bell contributed 12 digs.
Thus far, the season has been up and down for the Dragons, Scavarda said. The young team only has three returning varsity players with court experience as well as only four seniors.
“It’s been a little bit of an effort to try and get some of these kids acclimated to playing at this level and contributing the way we need them to,” Scavarda said. “As we get them more experience, the better we’ll get.”
As it often is, the team’s goals this season include winning their league, something their loss to Clarkston earlier in the week made a little bit more difficult.
“We need them to lose two games which is pretty unlikely, they’re pretty high level this year,” Scavarda said. “That goal may be gone but we’re going to do what we can do and win the rest of them.”
With the exception of Clarkston, Scavarda believes the ladies are evenly matched up in the league this year.
“The OAA (Red) this year is kind of, kind of like set two (against Adams), it’s kind of where any team can win on a given night if they’re playing well or if the other team is playing bad,” Scavarda said. “A lot of teams are pretty similar to Adams and us; at times can look really good but other times not so good. I think it’s kind of wide open.”
The Dragons will likely see the Wolves again in the district tournament later this season, a game the Lake Orion ladies have their sights set on.
The Lake Orion ladies are currently 1-1 in the OAA Red and head to Bloomfield Hills on Thursday to take on another league opponent.