Dragons defeat Wildcats 3-0 in semi-finals

By Megan Kelley

Review Writer

Lake Orion High School’s varsity volleyball team had an eventful week with two dominating performances against both Oxford High School and Avondale High School to clinch the district 8 Championship title. This is the program’s ninth district title.

On Wednesday, after having a bye in the first round, the Dragons took on the Oxford Wildcats in the district semi-finals. Lake Orion had had decisive victories over their rivals to the north earlier in the season but were met by a charged-up Wildcats team ready to fight for their ticket to the finals.

Oxford was able to maintain a lot of momentum throughout all three sets, staying within one to two points at nearly any given moment. With the Dragon’s taking the first two sets 27-25 and 25-23, the Wildcats kicked into high gear coming out of the gate strong and pulling ahead for an early lead in the third and final set. The Lake Orion ladies didn’t allow the lead to last long with the Dragon’s catching up quickly and keeping up nearly the same pace as the sets prior. When both Oxford and Lake Orion tied at 22, the teams went point-for-point until a well-placed kill from senior and captain Jaina Macaulay put the game away with a final score of 31-29.

Junior Nina Horning lead the team with 17 kills, while seniors Lauren Peters and Piper Talaga both contributed 7. Peters also had 15 digs with Macaulay and Sydney Bell both adding 13. Macaulay dominated in assists with 36. Horning, senior and captain Malinda Brunk and Peters had serve receives on lock throughout the night with 17, 15 and 14 serve receives respectively.

On Thursday night, the ladies took on the Avondale Yellowjackets. The Dragon’s had yet to play the Yellowjackets, who finished in the middle of the pack in the OAA White division, in their regular season but cranked up the heat dominating Avondale 3-0.

The Dragons set the tone almost immediately with a quick and decisive win in the first set 25-8. Avondale wasn’t giving up just yet, with the Yellowjackets turning up the tempo in the final two sets while the Dragons dipped into their bench to allow everyone some time on the court, but Avondale still fell short to the Dragons in the final two sets 25-14 and 25-17.

Horning again lead the team with 12 kills and Macaulay contributed 28 assists.

The Dragons move on to the Region 2 semi-finals against White Lake Lakeland in Novi at 5:30 p.m. on Nov. 9.