BY WENDI REARDON PRICE
Clarkston News Sports Writer
Clarkston spikers sealed their claim as OAA Red League champions as they remained undefeated against Rochester Adams and Troy last week.
“It was definitely one of our goals when we began the season,” said Kelly Pinner, head coach for Clarkston Varsity Volleyball. “We haven’t won the league outright since 2015. We shared the title in 2017. It’s been a little while. It’s definitely a source of pride for the girls and gives them some confidence moving into these next couple of weeks and as we enter playoffs.”
The Wolves opened the week with a 3-0 win over Adams, going 25-15, 25-20, 25-18, on Oct. 15.
“We played steady,” said Pinner. “The nice thing about Adams is it was senior night. We were able to get all the seniors in. It was a nice night.”
The team kept going and posted a 3-0 win over Troy on Thursday, 25-21, 25-13, 25-18.
Against the two teams, sophomore Summer Jidas had three aces and 33 digs; junior Claire Nowicki had 25 kills and 26 digs; senior Hannah Cady had 12 kills and four blocks; sophomore Elizabeth Adams had ten blocks; and junior Shay Bordine had 45 assists.
The Wolves went 3-1 in Beast of the East on Saturday. They went undefeated in pool play in two sets with wins over Grosse Pointe North, 25-11, 25-13; Portage Central, 25-20, 25-17; and St. Mary’s Catholic Central, 25-21, 25-11.
They lost in the first round of playoffs to Marian, 25-19 and 25-21.
“We struggled a little bit to get offense going against them,” said Pinner. “We hadn’t really lost since the Novi tournament since September. No one likes to lose, but I think it might have been a good thing for them. They need to experience a little adversity before we move into the post season, and they feel like they just roll over everybody. Hopefully it gave them the mindset there is still work to do.”
Nowicki was voted by coaches for the alternative team at the tournament. She finished the day with 24 kills, 26 blocks and six blocks.
Senior Jordan Newblatt had 31 kills and 21 digs; junior Sydney Hasenfratz had 18 kills and nine blocks; Jidas had five aces and 38 digs.
The Wolves opened this week on Tuesday at Grand Blanc.
“Grand Blanc is a good team, ranked in the top 25 in the state, and it’s one final time all three levels get to play together on the same night,”said Pinner. “It’s always fun for the girls to see the younger girls play and the younger girls get to see the older girls play. We like when we get to travel together.”
They head to the Stoney Creek tournament on Saturday.
Then, they host a quad against Fenton, Birmingham Seaholm and Macomb Dakota on Monday, 5 p.m.

  Clarkston Varsity Volleyball, OAA Red, Volleyball