The Lady Wolves finished the weekend in good spirits as they won the Grand Blanc Invitational on Saturday.
‘It was a good win for us,? said Clarkston Girls Varsity Volleyball Coach Kelly (Avenall) Pinner. ‘Anytime you win a tournament definitely gives you confidence. We didn’t win it last year. We lost in the finals to Lake Orion but prior we had won it for four to five years.?
Senior co-captain Emily Malinowski added it does give the team a boost.
‘It was really good for our team confidence,? she said. ‘Knowing we can do this and go far to get first. We gelled more as a team. We bonded pretty well on the court which is why we got so far. We stayed positive which helped us, too.?
The girls won the championship match with a 25-23 and 25-14 win over Lapeer.
‘It was close,? Malinowski said. ‘They gave us a run. Then, we just stepped it up. We knew what we had to do to score points and we pushed through.?
‘They had a few girls who were hitting it pretty hard at us,? Pinner added. ‘Our girls responded.?
The Lady Wolves beat Powers 25-8, 25-18 and Oxford 25-20, 25-9 in pool play.
Then, they headed into seeded pool games where they beat Cass Tech 25-10, 25-13 and Grand Blanc 25-10, 25-16.
The girls took on Oxford again in the semi-final match and beat them again in two games – this time 25-22 and 25-14.
For the day, Abbey Malinowski had 41 kills and seven blocks; Ashley Schwartz, 65 digs; and Emily, 118 assists and eight aces.
The Lady Wolves also went undefeated in their quad last Thursday. They beat Oxford, 2-1 (21-25, 25-10, 25-14); North Branch, 2-1 (26-25, 23-25, 25-21); and Flushing, 2-0 (25-21, 25-14).
‘North Branch was definitely tough,? said Pinner. ‘We did a good job staying focused and playing with intensity. I told them at the beginning of the season I wanted one of our goals to play with a little more intensity and a little more focus in the quads especially since we schedule a couple of tough ones for them with some good teams.?
For the day Taylor Dellinger had 41 kills and five aces; Schwartz had 52 digs and three aces; and Rachel Vieira had 29 digs and two aces.
The Lady Wolves host a quad on Thursday against Macomb Dakota, Marian and Seaholm on Thursday at 5 p.m. and head to the Fenton Invite on Saturday.
‘Marian is outstanding again this year and so is Seaholm,? Pinner added.