Our Lady clinches East Division, looks ahead to tourneys

Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes clinched its second straight Detroit Catholic League East Division title this past week while also earning its second tournament win of the season.

The Lakers (25-6-2, 9-0 in the Catholic League East) began the week with a three-game victory over Marine City Cardinal Mooney on the road, 25-19, 25-17, and 25-16 on Monday, Oct. 1.

Devon Valent had six aces, five kills and two blocks, while Allison Samulon had 11 kills, three aces and a block and Courtney Wightman had eight kills, two blocks and an ace.

Our Lady then followed up with a three-game victory over West Bloomfield Frankel Jewish Academy, 25-3, 25-11, and 25-11, on the road on Wednesday, Oct. 3.

Kali Bagley had 20 assists and 15 aces for Our Lady, while Wightman had seven kills and Samulon had six kills and two assists.

The Lakers then came home on Thursday, Oct. 4 and defeated Detroit Cristo Rey in three games, 25-11, 25-9, and 25-9.

The victory clinched the East Division for Our Lady as its closest competition, Cardinal Mooney, finished with an 8-2 division record, with both of its losses coming to the Lakers.

Samulon had 11 aces and four kills against Cristo Rey, while Haley Howell had 10 assists, nine aces and two kills and Abbigayle Kline had seven kills.

Our Lady then traveled north to the Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart Tournament on Saturday, Oct. 6 and went undefeated in pool play by splitting with host Sacred Heart (20-25, 25-17), defeating McBain Northern Michigan (25-13, 25-10), splitting with Bullock Creek (25-13, 14-25), and defeating Carson City (25-12, 25-11).

The Lakers finished in the top two of five teams in the tournament and faced a rematch with host Sacred Heart in the final.

Our Lady defeated Sacred Heart, 25-12 and 25-11, to claim the tournament championship.

Howell finished the day with 97 assists, 18 kills, 11 aces and a block, while Wightman had 33 kills, 22 digs, eight aces and three blocks and Valent had 23 kills, eight aces and four blocks.

The Lakers hosted Clarkston Everest Collegiate yesterday, Tuesday, Oct. 9 after press time to wrap up its Catholic League East schedule in the hopes of finishing division play with a perfect 10-0 record.

Our Lady will next play at the Mt. Morris Tournament on Saturday, Oct. 13 before the Catholic League Tournament begins on Thursday, Oct. 18.