Lake Orion meets expectations, wins first D1 state championship
Paige Briggs There were plenty of times in previous seasons that Lake Orion looked like it was going to win the state championship in volleyball, only to see itself come up short. In 2018, there were plenty of times it…
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Continue ReadingThere were plenty of times in previous seasons that Lake Orion looked like it was going to win the state championship in volleyball, only to see itself come up short.
In 2018, there were plenty of times it looked like the Dragons were destined to come up short again, but this edition of Lake Orion volleyball had had enough of that.
After its emotional five-set win over Farmington Hills Mercy on Friday night, the Dragons weren’t about to let themselves come up short in Saturday’s Division 1 championship, as they defeated Rockford in four sets (25-18, 25-23, 23-25, 25-16) to claim their first title in program history.
“I would say this feels unreal,” Lake Orion senior setter Wren Macaulay said. “Being here for four years and on the team, losing the last three years, it just feels so good to end on a winning streak and not with tears this year. It is exciting, really exciting.”
The Dragons were able to build off Friday’s win by starting quickly in Saturday’s final. Senior Paige Briggs opening the championship match with a powerful kill to set the tone. Lake Orion coach Tony Scavarda was focused on riding his top hitter after her dominant 43-kill performance against the Marlins.
“Wren really likes to spread the ball around and it opens Paige up a lot of times. I specifically told her though, ‘I don’t care if Paige’s legs fall off tonight. I want to take this in three. She can rest tomorrow,’” Scavarda said.
The Dragons threatened to take the match in three, but Rockford showed its resiliency by winning the third set. The Rams had overcome a 2-0 deficit earlier this postseason and were confident they could do the same on Saturday.
“We have been in that situation a couple of times before and they handled themselves very well. We continued to fight throughout that third set and did a good job of squeaking out a win,” Rockford coach Kelly Delacher said.
In the fourth, the Dragons relied on their serving and Briggs’ hitting to finish off the match. Lake Orion would rack up nine aces in the championship contest.
Lindsay Taylor“The match came down to serving and passing. (Lake Orion) served better than we did and passed better than we did,” Rockford coach Kelly Delacher said. “They were able to stay in system and ultimately their big hitter took over for them.”
Briggs had the set-winning kill in each of the three sets that Lake Orion claimed in the final. She finished Saturday with 30 kills, hitting .491 in the process. Over the weekend in Battle Creek. Briggs had 73 kills.
“I think everybody saw who should have been Miss Volleyball. If you just look at the competition that’s played against, but I know it’s now who’s the best player this year, it’s a career award. You really have to give it up to Maddy Chinn though, for four years straight Notre Dame Prep has been at the top of everything for Class B. I think if it was just like a senior year award, I don’t know how you could argue that it shouldn’t be Paige’s,” Scavarda said of Briggs.
Macaulay had 50 assists in the win for Lake Orion while Leigha Boes had nine kills. Ciara Livingway added 13 digs and four aces while Sydney Smith had seven kills and 11 digs.
Lindsay Taylor led Rockford with 20 kills and 14 digs while Emmy Webb added 12 kills and Emilee Karelse had 36 assists.