The trifecta
Oaks Christian boys' volleyball team wins third consecutive CIF-SS title
By Thomas Gase tgase@theacorn.com

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers A DAY TO REMEMBER- Oaks Christian celebrates its four-game victory over Mayfair High in the CIF-Southern Section Division IV boys' volleyball title game Saturday morning at Cerritos College.

Having been dealt the day's first match Saturday at Cerritos College, the Oaks Christian boys' volleyball team had to wake up bright and early for breakfast before its title tilt against Mayfair High.

That meal must have included Wheaties, since it is the breakfast of champions.

The Lions defeated Mayfair in four games to win their third straight CIFSouthern Section Division IV championship.

After losing the first game 2522, the Lions evened the score by winning the second game 25-22. In the next two games, Oaks Christian seemed to play with more swagger and confidence. The Lions took Game 3, 25-23, and Game 4, 25-18.

"This is a great feeling, and I'm very proud of all our guys," Oaks Christian head coach George Hees said. "There is a sigh of relief involved with this win. With us being ranked No. 1 all year long, anything short of a championship would have been considered a disappointment."

Even though OCHS dropped the opening game, Hees said he was confident in his team.

"We lost the first game 25-22, so it wasn't like we got blown out or anything," Hees said. "This is a very relaxed team. Their personality and looseness makes the team able to play in any kind of environment.

"I mean, the team is so loose that they were playing a game of duck-duck-goose in warm-ups. In the end I think this helped us wear Mayfair out."

Junior Phillip Boskovich agreed.

"When we're not excited, we don't play our best," Boskovich said. "Today we played loose, and it felt amazing when we won that way today."

After losing the first game, Oaks Christian went back and forth with Mayfair in the second game. With the Lions up 21-20, junior Paul Peterson applied a kill to put OCHS up by two. Junior Blake Fol then put together three kills of his own, including the game winner, to tie the match at one game apiece.

Fol continued his great play in Game 3 by logging three more kills, including one to put the Lions up 23-22.

Oaks Christian also received solid contributions from junior Dominic Denham, as he applied two blocks and two kills. With OCHS up 24-23, Mayfair senior Josh Collins hit a ball out of bounds to give the Lions the twogames-to-one advantage.

With its swagger back, Oaks Christian looked to put the Monsoons away for good.

Up 13-10 in the fourth game, OCHS went on a 9-3 run to seal the match. The run was sparked by kills from Fol, Peterson and Boskovich, as well as two blocks from Denham and blocks from Boskovich and junior Dalton Gerlach.

Peterson had another kill to make the score 24-18, and when Mayfair committed a net violation on the next play, Oaks Christian was champion once again.

Fol led Oaks Christian with 20 kills, while Denham and Peterson each had 11. Senior Ryan Schiedermayer set up his teammates with 45 assists.

"I got great sets today, and I've got to credit Ryan (Schiedermayer) for that," Fol said. "It means a lot to this group of guys to win the championship today. We approached this year the same way we approached last year.

"We knew it was going to be tough and that we had to take care of business. We also knew that we were the best team and if we played the way we knew we could, we would be all right."

For Schiedermayer, it was the perfect way to conclude his career at OCHS.

"I couldn't imagine a better ending than this," Schiedermayer said. "I came into the program with no expectations. I came up to play with the varsity team at the end of my sophomore year, and I got a chance to see the fire that goes along with being on the team. The last two years the team has really come together, and I couldn't feel better about the team than I feel now."

The best may be yet to come for the Lions. With only seniors Schiedermayer, Jason Salter and Brian Nelson graduating, OCHS will once again be loaded with talent in 2008.

Junior Dominic Denham has been a part of three championship teams in three years at OCHS but said he isn't finished adding to the school's trophy collection.

"I'm very happy to win a third straight year right now; I mean, who wouldn't feel happy about that," Denham said. "But I'm definitely thinking about a fourth one next year. It would be great to win four in four years."

Although Hees was savoring the moment of winning yet another title, he as well didn't rule out a possibility of a fourth.

"It's always great to win one championship," Hees said. "To win three in a row is even better. Winning a fourth would be almost unheard of."