Dragons Stun Mustangs, await Colts next at Orion.

Written Tuesday November 8th at 11:30 PM

The previous two playoffs the third ranked Birmingham Marian Mustangs won back to back state championships and were looking to win their third straight state championship and looked like they were well on their way of doing but then came Tuesday night.

Tuesday night proved to be the Perfect Storm for the Mustangs.

Birmingham Marian, the Catholic League runner up (57-14) could not get past that road block, that was the seventh ranked Dragons of Lake Orion who were the OAA Red runner up 20-25, 27-25, 25-16, 27-25 in a hostile regional semifinal at Lake Orion High School.

The win was perhaps the biggest in Dragons coach Bob Howey's career. "It was huge," Lake Orion head coach Bob Howey said to reporters. " I think we were down 24-19 after the second game. You know what. We put together as tough of a schedule as we could possibly play this year, and that’s why. I think that’s the difference. We had a tough loss against Clarkston, (five game loss, three weeks ago) but I think it taught us to have poise for that."

The schedule Howey put together was brutal and what was called doomsday to many experts. The schedule included top ranked Farmington Hills Mercy, second ranked Rockford, third ranked Birmingham Marian, fourth ranked Clarkston, fifth ranked Plymouth Canton, and ninth ranked Birmingham Seaholm, whom the Dragons had to all play this season, whether it was the regular season or in tournaments.

The seventh ranked Dragons (51-12-3) advanced to the regional final on Thursday Night at Lake Orion against a very determined Troy Colts team. The Colts needed 64 minutes to eliminate the Southfield Blue Jays in three games 25-16, 25-12, 25-16. Lake Orion will attempt to win it's first regional championship since 1988. That year the Dragons went to the Final Four of the State tournament.

The win for the Dragons was revenge after what happened last season in Oxford when they fell to the Mustangs in three games. The difference was the match was at Lake Orion. "It’s what we’ve been working for all season," Dragons Senior Shannon Murdock said to reporters. "We played Marian in the regionals last year and lost and we’ve been looking for revenge. It feels so good to finally get it."

The Mustangs fell into the perfect storm like the gales of November when ships went down sinking on the Great Lakes.

The first set was interesting and good to watch. The Mustangs took control early after some unforced errors by the Dragons and perfect serving on the Mustangs part. The Dragons did respond and took an early 10-7 lead but unforced errors and mistakes let the Mustangs come back and take down the Dragons 25-20. It looked early on like Birmingham Marian was going to take early control like they did against Birmingham Seaholm at Beverly Hills last Friday night.

The second set was intense drama. Lake Orion was about to trail two sets to none and the crowd was quiet. Birmingham Marian had a 24-19 lead but the Dragons answered with a rally of their own. Lake Orion scored five unanswered points to tie the game at 24-24. After that, the game turned to a back in fourth seesaw. Birmingham Marian scored the first point to take a 25-24 lead, then the Dragons responded. After tying the score up at 25-25 the Dragons scored the next two points and won 27-25 to tie the games up, one set a piece.

The win in the second set turned the Dragons Lair into a madhouse. The second game set the tone for the rest of the match. "We let them back into it," said Birmingham Marian coach Irick Gardner to reporters. "We let the crowd back into to it. I think the second game was the difference. If we get that point, then we lead 2-0 and can play differently against them. All we needed to do was get one point and we couldn’t do that. You can’t take away anything from Lake Orion because they are a good team. They found a way to come back."

The third set was all Dragons. The Mustangs were rattled, vulnerable, shocked, and stunned. Early on both the Dragons and Mustangs fought for control of the set but the Dragons found some huge breaks that went their way in the contest. The Dragons stormed past the Mustangs in set three 25-16 for a two games to one lead. The Lake Orion faithful realized that maybe could the changing of the guard and that Birmingham Marian was beatable.

The fourth set was a classic. Both teams called timeouts early and with no timeouts on each side. It was intense drama, Birmingham Marian was fighting for their season took an early 14-10 lead and then the tide turned. The Dragons battled, tying the game up at 15-15. Eventually the Dragons went into a back and fourth tug a war with the Mustangs.

Birmingham Marian did have a chance to win the fourth set on two separate occasions. The Mustangs led 24-23 at one point and possibly force the game to a fifth set but it wasn't meant to be. The Dragons answered the call with a Murdock kill to tie the game up at 24-24. The Mustangs final points came when they took a 25-24 lead and then Murdock added another kill to tie it up at 25-25 all. Senior Maddie Hutchinson then finished off the Mustangs with two things, first with a serve that was killed by Murdock and then an ace to pull of the greatest win in Dragons volleyball history.

The final score on the scoreboard was Lake Orion 27, Birmingham Marian 25 and three games to one.

The Lake Orion volleyball team screamed emotionally, cheered, hugged each other, and fell to the court in celebration after the final serve was made in front of a shocked madhouse. After a quick get together with the coaching staff, the Dragons volleyball team went into the madhouse and celebrated with them on the floor with hugs and happiness. Birmingham Marian coaches and players watched with tears and sadness knowing their season was done.

The madhouse was the Dragons crowd were dressed in white for the white out. They were in the game all night long and constantly was making life miserable for Birmingham Marian servers and players. They were most vocal especially when the Mustangs had to go to the north end for sets two and four that was where the madhouse was.

The Dragons were led by Murdock's 17 kills and 21 digs. Murdock's junior sister Sophie had 13 kills and three blocks. Senior Liz Kalugar had 10 kills and 16 digs while Senior Dana Schrauben had 34 assists. Senior Angelica LeDonne had four blocks while Seniors Gwen Motley had 18 assists and Hutchinson had 35 digs and 23 serve receives to lead Lake Orion.

For Birmingham Marian this a sudden shock to end their season. They expected to be in Battle Creek and win it's third state championship but that will not happen this season. The Mustangs play in one of the toughest leagues in the state, the Catholic League. Next season Birmingham Marian will still be one of the best teams in Oakland County and in the state and that league is no easy picnic.

Whenever teams play Birmingham Marian, teams tend to break and crack, especially with public school teams instead of persevere. That is one of the main reasons how the Mustangs win games because of intimidation. It happened at Birmingham Groves on Friday against Birmingham Seaholm. The Maples psychologically were intimated by the Mustangs with their experience, reputation, and per-segue and lost the final two games 25-14, 25-15 after losing 27-25 last Friday night.

Teams psychologically, especially with public schools change their game plans and approach against Catholic teams like Birmingham Mercy, Birmingham Detroit Country Day, Orchard Lake St. Marys, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, Novi Detroit Catholic Central, Birmingham Brother Rice, Farmington Hills Mercy, etc. The Catholic schools recruit players to play for them all around the state. Parents pay a lot of money for them to go to their school and play for them with the promise that they would land a Division One Scholarship.

Tonight however proved that public school teams can rise up, especially against the Catholic League and play them tough. Maybe this could be the possible changing of the guard.

For Lake Orion, it's retribution on a team that has caused them pain for years however the team only has 24 hours to celebrate this win and then get ready to play Troy Thursday night. Some will look at this match up with the Colts as a possible letdown game for the Dragons after the emotional win over Birmingham Marian. Others say it's a coincidence but it was meant to be.

Howey is confident in his team that they can win this regional and move onto the state quarterfinals for the first time since 1988, the goals are still there but they have to beat Troy first. "We haven’t won the regional yet, but to beat the two-time defending state champs here is very big. I think we’ll be ready Thursday (for the regional finals). I don’t think that will be a problem."

We'll see what happens Thursday against the Colts.

Tonight the demons was lifted and the Mustangs is the team that is going home while the Dragons live to play another day.