Oakdale High School

Oakdale Volleyball Falls To Sonora

Print E-Mail Story Comment

The chant came from the west end of the Oakdale High gymnasium and echoed into every ear in the packed house during the Lady Mustangs’ Valley Oak League battle with Sonora’s undefeated volleyball team on Wednesday.

“V-O-L, V-O-L, V-O-L!”

Enough said.

The Wildcat faithful bellowed the chant with one point to go in the fourth and final game of a 3-1 Sonora victory over the host Mustangs.

Oakdale had fought tough in a 20-25 defeat in the first game before shocking Sonora with a thrilling second round and 25-21 win in game two. Sonora bounced back with a 25-19 win in the third and cruised to a 25-12 finish in the fourth to claim sole possession of the VOL crown.

Oakdale (13-2 VOL, 19-4 overall) will settle for second in league.

“I need to give Sonora a lot of credit, they are a very talented team,” Oakdale coach Shelli Ponce said. “We gave them too many points from unforced errors.”

Sonora hitter Hannah Blume dominated the first game with most of her game high 18 kills as the Wildcats broke away from an 11-8 advantage with four consecutive points. Oakdale closed the gap at 20-22 late in the game, but Blume’s late kills were too much to overcome.

The Mustangs led the entire second game and even mounted a 21-10 lead before Sonora could rally to 23-20 and turn the heat up. A deep Sonora serve sailed out of bounds to award the 25th point and seal the Mustangs’ only win of the night.

In game three, the teams were deadlocked at 14-14 until repeated short serves to the left corner of Oakdale’s defense allowed the Wildcats to mount a four-point rally. Oakdale chased with some late kills that brought things to 19-22, but late errors allowed Sonora to slip away with a second win.

Smelling victory, Sonora bullied away from a 12-8 lead with a 13-4 run in the fourth game, to win the title outright. The two teams’ had shared co-championship honors a year ago.

It was a tough loss for Oakdale seniors to swallow in front of a boisterous Mustang crowd that engulfed every inch of free space on the home side bleachers.

“The first couple of matches our crowd kept us in the game, but our defense couldn’t,” senior setter Jackee Lee said. “It makes us learn what we need to work on.”

Lee finished with 24 assists, 10 service points and eight digs in the loss. Jaci Powell added 11 powerful kills and seven digs while Maddy Willet had five kills and five points. Domi Powell delivered four kills while Juli Powell ended with 19 points and 21 digs. Danielle Onken converted 11 points with six digs as well.

Oakdale played Ceres on Monday, though results were not available at press time. The Mustangs were ranked No. 6 in the halfway release of the Division III power rankings. The team could take a drop with Pioneer’s (ranked No. 7) likely undefeated finish in Capital Valley Conference play.

Pioneer (ranked No. 3) lost to Ripon and Edison of Stockton earlier this year, and could possibly falter with Tri-County Conference losses to end the regular season.

Either way, Oakdale is set to host a first round contest to open the postseason, and will likely be on the same side of the D-III bracket as No. 2 ranked St. Mary’s of Stockton. Playoffs kick off on Tuesday, Nov. 10.