The Dexter Dreadnaughts ran into one of those teams that if they are on their game, they are tough to beat. And South Lyon East was on their game Wednesday night and proved tough to beat.
The Dreadnaughts were swept out of Districts by the Cougars, who roared to a quick start and never looked back, in the second round of Districts at Skyline High School. In the earlier game, the state-ranked Skyline Eagles swept South Lyon, to advance to the finals. Skyline will face South Lyon East at 7 p.m. in Friday’s District final at Skyline.
The winner of the Skyline District will move onto the Woodhaven Regional and face the winner of the Brighton District at 5 p.m. on Nov. 8.
Dexter advanced with a 3-0 win over Pioneer in the only opening-round match but faced a much tougher opponent in the second round.
In the opening game, the Cougars built an early lead before Dexter started to cut into it. A tip by Mikah Salemi cut it to 7-3 and an ace by Savannah Smith made it 12-7. Back to back kills by Allison Bockrath brought Dexter to within 15-11. But South Lyon East went on a run to take a 21-13 lead and went on to a 25-14 win.
The second game was very competitive.
Down 5-1, a tip by Smith made it 5-3 and an ace by Alison Parachek cut the lead to 6-5. Dexter took its first lead of the night at 8-7. A kill by Smith pushed the lead to 9-7. Two aces by Lia DeMerell gave Dexter an 11-7 lead and then a tip at the net by Braedy Wineman made it 12-7. An ace from Maria DeMerell gave Dexter a 15-10 lead.
But South Lyon East made its run right there and tied the game up at 16-16. The Cougars led 20-17. Two spikes by Tia Schultz brought Dexter to within 24-22 but South Lyon East went on to a 25-22 win.
South Lyon East won the third game to finish off the match – and a nice season by the Dreadnaughts.
