Dragons lose tough one to Clarkston Again.

Written Friday October 3rd, at 12:30 AM

For some strange reason the fifth ranked Dragons were in control most of the match on Thursday night in Clarkston.

However one bad call later the third ranked Wolves rallied and what would likely be their eighth straight Red title.

Clarkston came from two games down to stun Orion 20-25, 22-25, 25-18, 29-27, and 15-9.

The Dragons (30-5-2, 3-1 Red) won the first two games and were in control in the third game up 8-2. The Wolves (29-3, 4-0 Red) then outscored them 23-7 down the stretch to win game three.

Game four was the turning point, the difference from seeing Orion win over their long time rival for the first time since the 2011 State Semifinals or Clarkston winning seven of eight meetings over Orion.

The Dragons had a great start and was up 8-1 in the fourth game and was up 23-18 late but a bad call went the Wolves way and a 6-1 rally started tying the game up at 24-24.

After the game four win, Clarkston went on and won 15-9 in game five, winning the match 3-2.

The Dragons were led by Hannah Murdock’s 24 kills and three aces. Marley Redd had seven kills and two blocks. Kori Varney had 29 digs and four aces.

The Wolves were led by Taylor Dellinger’s 18 kills along with sophomore Abby Malinowski who had 17 kills while her sister Emily had 56 assists on the night.

This is a tough loss for Orion and coach Tony Scavada, they gave this one away. The Dragons had strong starts and were in the drivers seat the whole match only to see Clarkston take it from them. Orion must focus now on Stoney Creek before closing out the regular season against Troy and Farmington.  

This is a big win for Clarkston and coach Kelly Averall-Pinter. The Wolves now have confidence heading into the final three games of the regular season and already have wins over Seaholm, Bloomfield Hills, Stoney Creek, and Orion.

This is not over, districts loom in November and Clarkston will be the ones having to travel to Orion. The district draw is out and looking at it, it looks like Clarkston will have a tough road if things work itself out.

Yes the Wolves have had success in Orion but this is a different Dragons team at home in past years.

This has actually begun.

We will have coverage on OAA Now over this match up and ramifications it will have in not only the rest of the season but also in district play as well.