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Clarkston tops Seaholm, Marian, Dakota to finish perfect in quad action
CLARKSTON – After picking up similar wins over Macomb Dakota and Birmingham Marian in the first two matches of a quad, host Clarkston and Birmingham Seaholm met in the final match of the night in a preview of what’s to come next week when the two teams open up league play in the OAA Red.
It was Clarkston that saw its momentum from a three game win over Marian into the final match of the night as the Wolves topped Seaholm 25-18 and 25-15 to finish 3-0 on the night.
Clarkston head coach Kelly Pinner said that she found out a lot about her team on Thursday night with the Wolves playing as well as they did against some top competition.
“We definitely learned a lot tonight,” she said. “We have one loss this year against Mercy in the Lake Orion tournament and we haven’t really faced tough competition since then, so I wasn’t really sure how we were going to stack up against Marian or Seaholm, so we’re definitely in the mix with those teams for sure.”
Clarkston (18-1-1) started the night with a win over Dakota, winning 25-14 and 25-11 and bested Marian in three games, 17-25, 25-22 and 25-14, while Seaholm picked up a three game win over Marian to start the night, 25-23, 24-26 and 25-23. Marian picked up a two game sweep over Dakota to finish the night, winning 25-10 and 26-24.
In the first game against Seaholm (16-3), the Wolves held a 21-17 lead, but Clarkston tallied four of the final five points of the game to hold off the Maples behind a kill from freshman Abbey Malinowski and a block from Emma Curd.
“I think that some of it was that our big hitters started to get some swings in and find some holes,” said Pinner. “That gave them some momentum and from there, they just took off. It gave them a lot of confidence and it boosted them and they weren’t afraid to swing at that point.”
In the second game, Clarkston was in full control from the start, jumping out to an 18-6 lead after a kill from sophomore Sarah Austin. The wolves then closed out the match with kills from Taylor Dellinger and Emily Malinowski and a block by Abbey Malinowski to secure the win.
Seaholm and Clarkston will meet next Thursday in a key early season OAA Red matchup at Seaholm.
Dellinger led the way for the Wolves, notching 32 kills on the night, while Emily Malinowski added in 21 kills and Abbey Malinowski chipped in with 62 digs on the night.
Dellinger said that with an impressive 3-0 record on the day, including the win over Seaholm, she and her teammates have a lot to be confident about this fall and are aiming high in 2014.
“We still have a lot to work on,” she said. “But after this I know that any team in our league, we can handle and beat them, so I’m expecting to win the (OAA Red) again.”
Seaholm was led by junior Annie Schechter, who finished with 23 kills and 20 digs, and Lauren McLeod, who added in 12 more kills, while Madison Martin finished the night with 25 digs.
Seaholm head coach Heather Lippert said that she was pleased with her team’s win over Marian to start the night, but wanted her team to refocus on Clarkston later in the night after sweeping Dakota.
“I was pleased with how we pulled out the win against Marian,” she said. “But I think we need to focus on moving on from the win, we hold on to things for a little longer and we might not move on quick enough and Clarkston was able to win against Marian and we had to sit for 20 minutes and we needed to get prepared mentally.”
