Oakdale clinches VOL crown with sweep of Central Catholic
For the past several years, Oakdale High has been at, or near, the top of the Valley Oak League volleyball standings. Same goes for Central Catholic, in the Western Athletic Conference.
Typically, Sonora battled Oakdale for league supremacy, while Los Banos usually stood in the Raiders’ path.
That all changed with Sac-Joaquin Section realignment.
Oakdale no longer has to deal with Sonora, which was moved into the Mother Lode League. And Los Banos will no longer hinder Central Catholic since the Raiders now call the VOL home.
Now, Oakdale and Central Catholic get to deal with one another.
The two met Wednesday for the second time this season, with the Mustangs turning in a 25-19, 25-18, 25-8 victory over the Raiders to sweep their season series and clinch the conference title.
“We kind of came in here wondering who our rival would be,” said Oakdale coach Shelli Ponce, who announced that, after 20 seasons at Oakdale (14 on the varsity level), she’ll step down following this season. “We kept seeing Central Catholic win and win, and they’ve definitely become our rivals.”
Oakdale improves to 12-1 in VOL play while Central Catholic dips to 11-2.
“We thought we were ready for them tonight and, guess what, we weren’t,” Raiders coach Bob Murr said. “Games 1 and 2 were strong, we just had a couple of miscues, but in Game 3 the wheels came off and I think we just got totally frustrated at that point.”
The Raiders were playing without senior middle hitter Anna Raspo, who suffered a season-ending knee injury two weeks ago, but it’s tough to say Raspo’s presence would have resulted in a different outcome.
Oakdale ran an uptempo offense that was tough for Central Catholic to handle.
“To run our quick offense, it definitely relies on passing,” senior setter Emily Desrochers said. “It requires a good pass in order to get a good set and start the offense. Our passing was definitely on tonight.”
Desrochers said that Ponce’s impending retirement had the Mustangs focused.
“We wanted to go out with a bang,” Desrochers said. “We wanted to give a performance that she could look back on and be proud of.”
Bee staff writer Joe Cortez can be reached at jcortez@modbee.com or (209) 578-2380. Follow him on Twitter @ModBeePreps.
This story was originally published October 29, 2014 at 9:26 PM with the headline "Oakdale clinches VOL crown with sweep of Central Catholic."