BY DAN STICKRADT
CORRESPONDENT
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
LAKE ORION — With a perfect record, Lake Orion has retained the OAA Red Division championship.
And this time the Dragons are not in a sharing mood.
A year ago after finishing in a three-way tie for the league title with Rochester Stoney Creek and Birmingham Seaholm at 6-1, the Dragons finished 7-0 atop the OAA-Red standings and are hitting the postseason in stride.
Clarkston, Stoney Creek and Seaholm followed in a tight group in the eight-school OAA-Red — traditionally one of the state’s top conferences.
“We’ve played a lot of very tough opponents this season,” said second-year coach Tony Scavarda. “One of our goals was to win the league and I think our schedule prepared us to for that. We went (7-0) and even beat Clarkston.”
The Dragons went 2-2 in a tough pool at the Mt. Morris Invitational on Oct. 29, having mixed results against top 20 programs, and fished 7-3 in tournaments in the final two weeks leading into the postseason.
Lake Orion is ranked 11th at tournament time, having played a brutally tough schedule that has left the Dragons with a 43-11-2 record and a winning percentage around .750.
Lake Orion is 7-0 at home this season, 5-3 on the road and 31-11-2 on neutral sights.
The Dragons, who lost in the Class A regional semifinals last season to eventual state runner-up Romeo, have made several long tournament runs over the past decade, including the regional finals in 2010 and the state finals in 2011.
the Dragons are in a tough district that also includes Clarkston, which is currently ranked in the Class A top 10, and upstart Oxford, good enough to spring an upset. Lake Orion and Clarkston would not clash until the district finals in November.
“You always want to be playing your best volleyball heading into the tournament,” said Scavarda. “I think we are playing well. Our record might not show because we’ve taken some losses against some very good teams. But we’ve also beaten some very good teams. It will be an interesting district.”