Oak Park girls’ volleyball team has its sights on a league championship

ADAM DAVIS/Acorn Newspapers TEAM OF DESTINY—The Oak Park girls’ volleyball team has compiled a 21-1 record this season, including a 5-0 mark in Tri-Valley play. With a win at home tonight against La Reina, the Eagles can all but assure themselves the school’s first ever league title in girls’ volleyball and put an end to La Reina’s 13year run as league champions. They’re 22-1 on the season but haven’t won anything yet.

That’s what Oak Park girls’ basketball head coach Patrick Quinn keeps telling his Eagles (21-1, 5-0) as they prepare for tonight’s showdown at home against La Reina (17-7, 4-1).

A win over La Reina and Oak Park would find itself up two games in the Tri-Valley standings with four league matches still to play. That’s a buffer that would all but assure the school its first ever league championship in the sport.

A loss would put the Eagles and 13-time defending league champion Regents into a firstplace tie heading into the final two weeks of the regular season.

“We don’t have any banners hanging in the gym for girls’ volleyball,” Quinn said. “And this is a chance to get one if we win. . . .This is the biggest game in school history for girls’ volleyball. It’s got to be.”

In the only other match of the season between the two schools, Oak Park went on the road and defeated the Regents in five tough games (24-26, 25-16, 2927, 22-25, 16-14).

“I don’t expect this game will be any different then the game at their place,” outside hitter Samantha Wilson said. “We were very close in the fourth game to where we probably could have taken them in four.

“Then their fans got in our heads a little bit and they got some momentum and we kind of folded up a little bit,” Wilson said. “But we did bounce back in the fifth game to win it.”

The first win against La Reina came on Oct. 5.

It was nearly a month before that, however, that the Eagles’ magical season began to take shape.

On Sept. 7, Oak Park prevailed in another five-set marathon, this time against the Westlake Warriors. It was the first match of the year, but the victory gave the team the confidence it needed to be successful, said Quinn.

“(Westlake) is very, very good,” Quinn said. “It was a shocker for them to lose to us, and it told us, ‘Hey, we’re pretty good.’”

Two days after the win over Westlake, Oak Park won the Ventura Tournament, defeating higher division schools such as Newbury Park, Ventura and Aliso Niguel en route to the title.

The victories continued to pile up—16 in a row to be exact—with wins over the likes of Oaks Christian, Louisville and Hart, before the first and only setback of the season came against Simi Valley in the Royal Tournament during the first weekend of October.

Oak Park has won five straight matches since losing to Simi Valley, and Quinn credits the Eagles’ season-long success to his players’ willingness to sacrifice themselves on the court for the greater good of the team.

Leading the Oak Park attack is outside hitter Jesse Yeager.

Yeager currently ranks fourth in California and first in the Southern Section with 336 kills on the year, an average of 15.2 kills per game.

The 16-year-old senior, who carries a 4.2 GPA, has already accepted a “financial package” to attend the University of Pennsylvania (Ivy League schools don’t reward full athletic scholarships).

She is also a student of the game of volleyball and often reviews film and even has created scouting reports of the Eagles’ upcoming opponents.

“(Yeager’s) a good leader, kind of like a coach in a way,” setter Lindsey Brown said. “If one of the team members is in the wrong position, she’ll tell us where we need to go. She’s really just an anchor for our team.”

Brown, the Tri-Valley leader with 43 aces on the year, has been outstanding for Oak Park as well, Quinn said.

“She’s unbelievable,” the coach said. “She has the best serve. Her serve is like a rocket. And she plays unbelievable defense, passes the ball like a machine and because she only plays in the back row for us, she doesn’t get the recognition or accolades she should. This girl is good enough to play in college.”

Quinn was also quick to point out the play of junior middle blockers Sara Majidian and Samantha Macks.

Macks trails only Yeager for the league lead with 56 blocks. Majidian ranks fourth with 39 blocks.

“We have the strongest middle attack in the league,” Quinn said. “And nobody has stopped them yet this year. Nobody.”

Lisa Veliz has served as the team’s setter for the entire season and rarely comes out of a match.

“For us to be 21-1, a lot of it has to do with (Veliz),” Quinn said. “A lot of it is her decision making and consistency as a setter. She’s getting the job done.”

Samantha Wilson, Brooke Grisiola, Holly Denning, Michelle Lefrancois, Lindsey Brown, Brittany Benavides, Megan Rauch, Tess Rybowiak and Britney Messier have all also played crucial roles in helping Oak Park put together the program’s most successful season in school history, Quinn said.

All 14 girls will be counted on to help Oak Park end La Reina’s long run of domination in the Tri-Valley.

“They’re going to be in our gym, but they are coming to play a lot harder,” Wilson said. There’s a lot of motivation. They have a league championship to defend.”

Tonight’s match tips off at 5 p.m. at Oak Park High School.