Marian Volleyball Falls in Regional Semifinals to Lake Orion

LAKE ORION – The Marian High School volleyball team won’t be sleeping tonight.

In a regional semifinals game featuring two of the top 10 teams in the state, the Mustangs won the first set against Lake Orion and were one point away from taking the second.

Marian had a 24-19 lead, but failed to close out game point five straight times. The Dragons won the pivotal second set on Tuesday night and went on to beat the two-time defending Class A champions in four sets (22-25, 27-25, 25-16, 27-25).

“That’s when we lost,” Mustangs head coach Irick Gardner said. “We had three or four chances to win in that second game. They had what? 19? We have to be able to get that one point. Players have to step up to get one point. We have junior varsity players that can get one point.”

Lake Orion outside hitter Shannon Murdock, who had two kills in the 6-0 run, said her team had never staved off a game point for so long. “We had never done that,” Murdock said. “Not with one point, not with game point. We kept it together so well. It was awesome.”

The poise the Dragons showed didn’t surprise their head coach Bob Howey. “That was huge,” Howey said. “We played as tough a schedule as I could possibly put together this year and that’s why.”

When Marian’s Kaleigh Pohlman hit the ball out of bounds to give the Dragons a 27-25 win in the second set, the Lake Orion home crowd went nuts. The rally gave the large student section something to cheer about. It turned up the decibel level in a big way and seemed to rattle the Mustangs in the third set.

“This is what we hoped for. The girls worked really hard the last two days getting posters all over the school and talking to everybody,” head coach Bob Howey said. “The crowd was fantastic. We play well like that.”

Marian settled down in the fourth set and looked like it would push the match to a fifth. The Mustangs had game point at 24-23 and 25-24. Both times, the Dragons were able tie the game back up at 25-25 and then they reeled off three straight points for the victory.

“It’s what we’ve been working for all season,” Murdock said. “We played Marian in the regionals last year and lost. We’ve been looking for revenge and it feels good to finally get it.”

Murdock led the team with 17 kills. Her sister, Sophie Murdock, had 13 kills and three blocks. For Marian, Jessica Kopmeyer had a team-high 19 kills and Pohlman had 14. Madeline Hutchinson led all players with 35 digs for the Dragons. 

The loss for Marian ends its run at third straight Class A championship and a fifth straight finals appearance. It will be the first time since 2006 the Mustangs won’t be headed to Battle Creek.

“I knew they’d be tough,” Gardner said. “They are good team.”