Spikers score first win in OAA Red

Emily Malinowski and Katie Chadwell blocked the incoming volleyball from North Farmington, sending it back over the net.
The Lady Raiders were unable to return it – giving Wolves another point to boost them to 6-0 in the third game last Thursday at Clarkston High School.
The Lady Wolves varsity volleyball would continue the momentum to win the game 25-8 and win their first OAA league match, 3-0.
“Traditionally we don’t play well at home,” said Coach Kelly Avenall. “We have been talking about staying focused out here and not worrying about what is going on in the stands. Sometimes there are distractions out there for them.”
If there were distractions Clarkston didn’t show a lack in focus as they started the night winning the first game, 25-16.
They opened with a kill from Chadwell. North Farmington put two points on the score before Malinowski tied the score with another point for the Lady Wolves.
They continued to build off off of the lead with more contributions from Malinowski and Chadwell as well as from Kacy Robinson and Brianna Frakes.
“We stayed focused,” said Avenall. “I was happy to see that and we got a lot of kids out there. It is hard sometimes when you play a team and keep your focus the entire time.”
They got into a slower start in the second game and North Farmington took the lead. Tessa Manilla and Frakes helped to get the Wolves back on track by tying the score twice. From there they will able get back on track and build a lead.
“It was a lot of unforced errors on our part,” Avenall admitted. “Just not doing things we should normally be doing. I was happy to see they were focused and stayed positive the whole time. There are things we have been working on in the past month in terms of chemistry and staying together. We had better results with that.”
The Lady Wolves won the second game with the last point from Erin Rodewald, putting the score 25-13.
Chadwell had 12 kills and eight blocks for the night. Frakes had 25 assists and three aces.
The Lady Wolves began the week playing Troy. They host Stoney Creek on Thursday and head to a tournament at Marian on Saturday and a league meet at Lake Orion on Tuesday.
“Troy is going to be tough,” Avenall said, preparing for the league game. “They have a really great coach and hitters. We are going to have to prepare for them and work on our blocking. Orion will be tough.”
She admitted she didn’t much about Stoney Creek but they did just move into their division.
JV begins at 5:30 p.m., varsity follows.