Dragons sweep Highlanders, await Falcons in Rochester on Saturday.

Written Thursday November 3rd, at 11:18 PM.

One word for the first two games that could explain Lake Orion Volleyball Dragons. Dominant. The third game, not so much.

The Dragons did manage to survive the third game after Rochester Adams tied the game up at 21-21, however a service error by Adams led the way for Lake Orion that ended up sweeping the Rochester Adams Highlanders, 25-11, 25-10, 25-23 at Rochester High School on Thursday night.

Dragons coach Bob Howey liked the way his team played tonight against Rochester Adams. "I really like what I saw tonight, especially in the first two games, I thought our hitters and our setters were on their games. That was some good volleyball from us."

The Dragons (49-12-3) will move on and play the host school, the Rochester Falcons on Saturday at noon. The Dragons will attempt to try and win their second straight district championship and second in 16 years.

Lake Orion was led by it's strong senior class once again, Liz Kalugar and Shannon Murdock combined for 17 kills in the contest while junior Sophie Murdock added nine kills of her own. Senior's Dana Schrauben and Gwen Motley combined for 28 assists."I thought it was going to be hard for us to keep up the same energy level that we had in the first two games," Howey said. "Adams definitely came out strong in that third game. They put up a really good fight."

The Falcons survived a five game thriller with their eastern city rival, the Stoney Creek Cougars, whom won the Rochester City Championship for volleyball. Rochester beat Stoney Creek 16-25, 17-25, 25-21, 25-23, 17-15 to get into the championship game on it's home court. Earlier in the season the Dragons won 25-20, 25-12, 25-17, and swept the Falcons on that day.

Saturday is going to decide a district champion but it's going to actually be a road game for the Dragons. Howey wants to make sure his team doesn't overlook toward Birmingham Marian (Tuesday at Lake Orion), if they win Saturday against Rochester. "We’re looking ahead to Saturday now. We just have to make sure we keep taking it one match at a time. If you overlook someone and come out flat, your season could be over. I love my group because I don’t have to tell them that very often. They know that they can’t look past anybody. They know that there won’t even be a regional match against Marian if they don’t take care of business in districts. It’s really a great group of kids."