Lake Orion Power Series Takeaways & Standouts

The third edition of the Power Series taking place around the Southeastern parts of Michigan took place on Saturday, with one of the featured groupings competing at Lake Orion High School. The Dragons hosted Eisenhower, Marian and Stoney Creek in a showcase of four solid D1 contenders. Coming into this week No. 14 in our D1 rankings, the Eisenhower Eagles showed that they may need to move up by beating all three teams in two sets. “It’s a definite confidence booster for us,” Eisenhower coach Caitlin Maloney said. “Anything is possible for us and the girls really needed this to get that confidence up and believe in themselves that they can compete with anyone. It was really good to see everything come together and have a total team effort.” Ike avenged a previous loss to No. 13 Lake Orion with a 25-18, 25-19 victory on Saturday. They also bested No. 7 Stoney Creek, 25-19, 25-16, while topping No. 2 Marian as well, 26-24, 25-22. “We have struggled this season to finish games and (Saturday) we did that,” Maloney said. “We had some struggles at times during the sets, but when it was time to put them away, we did that.” Marian, Stoney Creek and Lake Orion all went 1-2 on the day. Stoney Creek picked up its win over Lake Orion (25-23, 20-25, 27-25), avenging an OAA Red loss to the Dragons from earlier in the week. Marian bested Stoney Creek (25-18, 18-25, 27-25), while Lake Orion grabbed a win over Marian (25-16, 27-25). Aside from the competitive play, here’s some standouts and takeaways from all four squads. Eisenhower [caption id="attachment_111017" align="alignright" width="239"]<img class="size-medium wp-image-111017" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2020/10/Eisenhower-Angelena-Tripi-239x300.jpg" alt="" width="239" height="300" /> Angelena Tripi[/caption] As the other three teams struggled to find consistency on Saturday, the Eagles never wavered. Setter Angelena Tripi really was consistent all day. She was putting the ball in great spots and had a great connection with senior middle [player_tooltip player_id="50333" first="Kira" last="Buza"]. Buza had strong finishes and timely blocks all day. [player_tooltip player_id="14188" first="Sydney" last="Palazzolo"] was her usual self, making plays all over the court. She put down the final point of the match with Stoney Creek to secure the sweep. She’s over 200 kills for the season and hitting around .350. Senior Maddy Mets also had some solid swings at the net Saturday afternoon. In order to play consistent, Eisenhower also had to have a steady defense and that was done by committee. Marian It was just an off day for the Mustangs. They couldn’t seem to ever get into a real flow during any of their matches. The mistakes were uncharacteristic of the team, which has only lost to top-ranked Mercy. However, Marian is still a young team without a senior, so this could be a good learning experience for it. [player_tooltip player_id="24846" first="Ava" last="Brizard"] is still one of the top finishers in the state. When she gets an aggressive swing on the ball, it’s hard for anyone to stop. Junior [player_tooltip player_id="24877" first="Sarah" last="Sylvester"] moved well on the floor and was locked in. She was timing swings well with sophomore setter [player_tooltip player_id="66328" first="Ava" last="Sarafa"]. Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id="66305" first="Lauren" last="Heming"] was doing her best to compete with some big hitters. The sophomore libero moves well on the floor and meets each swing head on. Stoney Creek [caption id="attachment_111018" align="alignright" width="300"]<img class="size-medium wp-image-111018" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2020/10/Stoney-Creek-Emma-Beyer-300x286.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="286" /> Emma Beyer[/caption] The Cougars showed flashes of why they can be a contender in D1 this year, but also showed why they may have trouble getting out of a tough district that includes Eisenhower. Senior middle [player_tooltip player_id="50298" first="Ainsley" last="Guse"] was a definite standout for the Cougars. She looked loose on the floor and was making plays on offense and defense to finish points. Guse was dominant for stretches. Junior outside [player_tooltip player_id="24881" first="Sydney" last="Tomlak"] is also a finisher and has the all-around game you want to see in any six-rotation hitter. Emma Beyer is another solid arm for Stoney Creek, but it was her effort that stood out most. Beyer was all-in on every play and Stoney Creek needs that effort from everyone in these close matches. Setter [player_tooltip player_id="89349" first="Ella" last="Markevics"] was also playing well and especially had great sets for Guse throughout the day. Lake Orion The Dragons have somewhat of a similar feel to last year. At times they look like a lost team, but when the pieces click it is clear the Dragons are a real force. Coach Tony Scavarda is hoping that those pieces can lock in for another deep postseason run. Sophomore outside [player_tooltip player_id="66309" first="Nina" last="Horning"] is still adding pieces to her game, but is an impact player all over the floor and has a very powerful serve. Middles [player_tooltip player_id="14193" first="Kendall" last="Robertson"] and [player_tooltip player_id="50303" first="Reagan" last="Goeke"] are two of the best in the state and each are adding new wrinkles to their game in an effort to keep improving. Junior setter [player_tooltip player_id="24863" first="Jaina" last="Macaulay"] has that same leadership quality we have seen from her family before. She looks to have really settled into her role as a captain for the Dragons. She plays with the effort you would expect and is showing a lot of confidence.