Senior-Led Lake Orion Earns 1st Title
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
November 17, 2018
BATTLE CREEK – With 10 seniors on the roster, it’s fitting this year’s version of the Lake Orion volleyball team was the one to bring the school its first MHSAA volleyball title.
And while they’re plenty talented, that group brought a trait coach Tony Scavarda said was the difference in getting his program over the top:
Grit.
“We’ve been in situations this year several times where we were down late in sets, and they don’t stop playing,” Scavarda said. “Even the set we lost tonight, they could have just said, ‘Eh, we’ll win the next set.’ But no, they came back, it was 23-24, and fought even to the very end of that set. They’re very resilient, gritty, and they don’t let any set go without a fight.”
Lake Orion defeated Rockford 25-18, 25-23, 23-25, 25-16 on Saturday at Kellogg Arena to claim the Division 1 title. It was the program’s second trip to the final game, with the first ending with a loss against Rockford in 2011.
Thanks to a 30-kill effort from senior Paige Briggs and a 50-set effort from senior Wren Macaulay, it was clear there wouldn’t be any heart break this time.
“Honestly, it just feels unreal,” Macaulay said while hugging the championship trophy. “Being here for four years and on the team and losing the last three years, it feels so good to end on a winning streak and not with tears this year. It’s exciting, it’s really exciting. It still hasn’t hit me yet.”
The Dragons (68-6) not only brought home the first state title in school history, but became the first team from the Oakland Activities Association to win at the Finals level, something Scavarda learned at the post-match press conference.
“We knew it was the first ever for Lake Orion, which was a pretty big accomplishment. But to be the only one from the OAA, seeing that it’s one of the toughest leagues year in and year out in the state, that’s surprising,” Scavarda said. “But I knew these guys had it in them. It was just a matter of putting it together at the right time.”
After controlling much of the first set, Lake Orion found itself trailing for much of the second. That’s when it decided to lean a bit more on Briggs, who had 10 kills in the frame.
“My whole thought was Wren really likes to spread the ball around, and it opens Paige up a lot of times,” Scavarda said. “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 and the next day. We gotta get that second set. That’s a big momentum thing; even though they got that third set, we knew that we were still up 2-1. It’s still a nice little cushion to have.”
Rockford (47-12-1) didn’t relent in the third, leading for much of it before holding Lake Orion off late.
“We’ve been in that situation a couple times before, and they handled themselves very well,” Rockford coach Kelly Delacher said. “They continued to fight throughout that third set, and did a good job of squeaking out a win there.”
But Lake Orion grabbed control of the fourth set early, and kept Rockford at arm’s length throughout before closing the match, fittingly, with a kill by Briggs, assisted by Macaulay.
“I feel like our team is really good at being calm in those tough situations,” Lake Orion senior middle blocker Leigha Boes said. “Especially when it’s close, we really don’t hear the cheering and the crowd and the other team.”
Senior libero Ciara Livingway had 13 digs for the Dragons, while Boes had nine kills. Kendal Robertson added six kills and four blocks, while Sydney Smith had seven kills and 11 digs.
Senior Lindsay Taylor led Rockford with 20 kills and 14 digs. Emmy Webb added 12 kills, while Emilee Karelse had 36 assists.
“I’m super proud with how my team played,” Delacher said. “It’s not an easy thing coming out and playing under bright lights and cameras and a big, huge crowd from your school, and I thought they performed very well under the pressure throughout the whole tournament. Lake Orion is a very good team, and they’re a very deserving champion.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Lake Orion hoists its first MHSAA championship trophy Saturday at the Kellogg Arena. (Middle) Dragons Wren Macaulay (10), Leigha Boes (13) and Paige Briggs put up a block as Rockford’s Emmy Webb sends a kill attempt through.
Bronson Finds Class C Championship Mix
November 21, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
BATTLE CREEK – Alexa Ratkowski wears jersey number 1, and so she was first through the hug line as Bronson accepted its Class C championship medals Saturday at Kellogg Arena.
She had a smile across her face until she hugged coach Jean LaClair and the first tears fell. Every teammate following her seemed to drop a few more.
Bronson often wasn’t the tallest or most physically intimidating team on the volleyball court this season, and especially the last few weeks. The Vikings even had to make up for graduating an all-state hitter this spring.
But they had other ingredients that make an MHSAA champion – most notably chemistry to go with a skillful mix of seniors through freshmen and an all-state setter like Ratkowski, who had 34 assists plus six kills in leading Bronson to a 3-0 sweep of reigning champion Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central – 25-22, 25-21, 26-24 – for its first title since 2009.
“Working together and just building with one another; all summer this is what we’d look forward to,” said Ratkowski, who ended this season with the third-most assists in MHSAA rally scoring history. “Playing throughout the season, we knew we were number one. But rankings didn’t mean it. It all came down to the state title and how we performed, and I think we performed to our ability.”
The Vikings did indeed hold the top ranking in Class C for the final two months of the season, finished 57-10-3 and added a league title after not winning their conference or making it out of their District a year ago for the first time since the winter 2006-07 season.
It was about a month into this fall that LaClair – who has coached at three schools over 22 seasons and went over 1,000 career wins in October – saw the makings of a championship contender.
“Early on in the season I think they were frustrated. But we have some freshmen, sophomores playing key roles, and it really took them some time to get into the mold of what varsity volleyball is all about,” LaClair said. “They get along so well. In girls sports, team chemistry is more important than anything else.
"The other thing, I think, is we have a lot of depth. I had some kids who came off the bench today to do some great things for us. That ability to go through 10 or 12 deep really helps in a big match like this.”
It definitely helped during Saturday’s first set as Bronson got down by as many as nine points. Senior outside hitter Kirin Cekander – who LaClair calls the team’s “energizer bunny” – admittedly got off to a rough start. But some switches helped the Vikings pull together a 21-9 swing to win the first set – with Cekander getting kills for two of the final four points.
“The first game just set the stage in all of us,” Ratkowski said. “We were down by eight, and we said this is not it. We’re not letting down.”
Bronson trailed again by two points midway through the second set, but broke away for the final four points, including a pair of kills by sophomore outside hitter Kiana Mayer.
The teams were tied 24-24 in the third set before junior Jill Pyles and then Cekander drove the final points home.
“All the sets were close. It was different for us; we had leads. Maybe that was the difference – we had too many leads in each set,” SMCC coach Karen O’Brien said. “We just couldn’t finish them. We just couldn’t put them away. A couple points here, a couple points there really was the difference.”
Cekander finished with 11 kills and Pyles had nine, but Mayer added eight and junior Allison Sikorski added seven. Cekander also had a team-high 15 digs.
“We have a lot of people who can come off the bench and play like they’ve been playing the whole game,” Cekander said. “We have a lot of people practicing in different places, so we have four outside hitters and a lot of people who can hit back and a lot of middles. We have a really good, flexible team.”
Senior Skylar Iott led three Kestrels in double-figure kills with 15, while seniors Regan Hodgson and Nicole Pollzzie both added 10. Senior Abby Thompson had 15 digs.
St. Mary (37-9-1) played in its eighth MHSAA Final but first with former assistant and Division I college head coach O’Brien running the program. She inherited a strong group of seniors she and retired coach Diane Tuller nurtured last season who then came up big this fall.
“After last year, losing as many seniors that contributed a lot, our seniors stepped up this year,” O’Brien said. “Skylar, Nicole, Regan, Abby and then Rose (Kemmerling) – Rose was our manager last year. You go from manager to being setter in the state finals. I think that just says a lot about her character.”
PHOTO: (Top) Bronson’s Kirin Cekander tries to drive the ball through the block of Merina Poupard (15) and Nicole Pollzzie. (Middle) SMCC’s Skylar Iott goes for a kill with Bronson’s Kiana Mayer (10) and Jill Pyles blocking.