BY WENDI REARDON PRICE
Clarkston News Sports Writer
Spikers showed off their skills as they went against six teams on Saturday.
The Clarkston Varsity Volleyball team went 5-1 at the Lake Orion tournament at Elite Sportsplex.
“They played really well for their first tournament,” said Kelly Pinner, head coach. “We are definitely really young – I keep telling them that, I keep telling people that. We only have three seniors, four sophomores and seven juniors. Three of those sophomores are getting solid minutes. The beginning of this season is going to be a lot of learning, growing and developing. I was definitely happy with the way they played and as far as they got.”
The girls opened going 3-0 in pool play as they defeated Canton, 25-14, 25-18; New Boston Huron, 25-12, 26-7; and Grand Blanc, 26-24, 26-24.
Pinner added the competition against Grand Blanc was close.
“We talked about that – you’ve got to have matches like that to see what you are made of,” she said. “Keep competing. We were definitely down against Grand Blanc in both of those games and ended up on top. It’s good to have matches like that where you have to fight and come out ahead to see what you are made of.”
The Wolves continued with two more wins in bracket play against Mason, 25-20 and 25-19, and Lakeland 25-20 and 25-14, before losing to Northville in the semifinals, 25-11, 25-22.
Claire Nowicki had 43 kills, four aces and 19 digs for the day. Jordan Newblatt had 33 kills and Alana Watlington had 19 kills and ten blocks.
“We have a very balanced attack right now which is helping,” said Pinner. “The past few years we tended to be one dimensional. We have some players now who are very athletic and stepping up where we don’t have to have that one go-to player. We’ve got a few weapons we can use.”
The Wolves opened the week at the Oxford Quad where they played Lake Orion, Oxford and Notre Dame Prep.
They head to the Rockford Quad on Thursday where they will also play Portage Central and Okemos.
“It’s tough competition,” Pinner said, adding playing the teams will help them figure out where their strengths and weaknesses lie so they can get better.
The girls head to the Mercy Tri-Match next Wednesday. They host their own quad against Oxford, Flushing and North Branch at Clarkston High School, Sept. 5, 5 p.m.

  Clarkston Volleyball, tournament