Lake Orion to Play Rockford in State Volleyball Championship

The Lake Orion Girls Volleyball team is making history this weekend as the OAA's first volleyball team to advance to the Class A State Girls Volleyball Finals.

The Dragons (54-12-3) defeated rival Clarkston in the state semifinals in Battle Creek on Thursday and will now face Rockford (59-8) Saturday afternoon for the state title.

“They’re excited," coach Bob Howey said. "They’re looking forward to tomorrow. We’ve played Rockford and beaten them one out of the three games so far, so we feel it’s our turn.”

Howey, who has coached volleyball at Lake Orion High School for 11 years, attributes the team's success this season to hard work and seasoned players, eight of which are seniors this year.

“It’s a big part of how we are where we are now," Howey said. "It's amazing. It’s been a great season."

The team, which adopted the motto "Refuse to lose" at the beginning of the season, has shown confidence throughout the playoffs in games against , and .

Now, the unranked team is hoping to nab its first-ever state title from No. 2  Rockford.

“We thought we could we could do this at the beginning of the year, and here we are," Howey said. "It’s just so exciting and fun to watch the girls and enjoy it with them.”

Howey said his players have faced some challenges this year, but they have been fortunate enough to avoid major injuries and other setbacks this season.

“Some of our core starters have struggled with soreness, but they’ve worked through it," Howey said, adding that his favorite part of making it to the finals is just seeing how excited his players are to play such a big game.

"I just hope we can play to the level we know we can play at," Howey said. "I think it’ll happen."

Want to watch the game tomorrow? We'll be streaming it live starting at 2 p.m., courtesy of FSN.

If you are traveling to Battle Creek for the final, and take photos, we'd love for you to share them here, or by emailing them to editor Jen Anesi at jen.anesi@patch.com.