(The Oakland Press/JOSE JUAREZ)
Birmingham Seaholm’s Sara Olivova (9) gets blocked by a pair of Clarkston defenders, Alyssa Craft (10) and Alexis Egler, in Thursday’s OAA volleyball match.The Wolves rallied from one game down to win in four games.
Sometimes all a team needs is a good, loud wake-up call.
A head-ringing reminder to bring a team full of players back to who they are and what they’re capable of.
It was all the Clarkston Wolves needed — and they got it Thursday evening.
After dropping the first game, 23-25, to Birmingham Seaholm inside their own gym, the Wolves roared back to take the next three, 25-16, 25-23, and finally 25-9 to complete the comeback in what was both teams’ Oakland Activities Association league openers.
“I was very proud of the way they came back after that first one. We were making a lot of mistakes defensively and were really beating ourselves,” Clarkston head coach Kelly Avenall said. “We are still trying to figure out some lineup things and some girls are still trying to tackle their role on this team. I think tonight we got some things figured out.”
An integral part of the revamped defense for Clarkston (5-2) Thursday night was the all-around hustle play of junior libero Jennifer Coates. The two-year starter made stellar defensive plays look easy, diving to the floor, reading opposing hitters very well, and also acting as the vocal leader of the well-balanced Wolves squad.
In the third game, Seaholm looked well on its way to taking a 2-1 game advantage before Coates and crew dug deep and found their game. Trailing 19-14, Coates finished some great shots using her finesse placement and court vision, while also feeding Johanna Kupe some nice sets for solid kills, leading the Wolves on a 7-2 run, eventually finished with a Kupe kill to take the game, 25-23.
Coates finished with 34 digs and Kupe connected on 10 kills.
“(Coates) was great. She was just everywhere tonight,” Seaholm head coach Heather Lippert said. “She’s fast, she’s confident, and she’s not afraid to hit the floor and go after a ball. Really a tough player to play against.”
The Maples caught an unlucky break very early this season when their best player, Anya Cekauskas, went down with a foot injury, forcing Seaholm youngsters to step up.
Seaholm is now led by their young talent. Sophomore Taylor Stinson is accompanied by two freshman, Paige Neuenfeldt and Sara Olivova, to keep Lippert and the Seaholm faithful very excited about the future of this program. In Seaholm’s Game 1 victory, the three underclassmen played extremely well together giving the Wolves a scare.
Stinson takes care of the defense while Olivova and Neuenfeldt both rise high and get nice velocity on their kills, making it difficult to defend.
Stinson finished with 20 digs while Olivova added 14 kills and Neuenfeldt with 12.
“Losing your best player like that is very nerve-wracking,” Lippert added. “But this is a great group of girls who came out strong. We definitely have a bright future ahead of us.”
The riveting Clarkston comeback in the third game depleted Seaholm. The Wolves exploded out of the gate in the fourth and final game, led by sophomore Allison Reis, who brought her energy and kills to the table, racing the Wolves out to a 17-4 early advantage, never to look back.
Reis had 11 kills in the victory.
“First league match, home match, we came out kind of tense but I’m glad we picked it up” Coates said. “We’ve done pretty well so far for the beginning of the season and we have a fairly experienced team, I’m really excited for this season.”
