Oak Park netters come up a little short

HESTON QUAN/Special to the Acorn NICE TRY—Oak Park High's Michael Shea, left, looks on as Whitney Warren makes a pass during the CIF-SS Division III title match. Few expected the Oak Park High boys' volleyball team to go this far again.

Although the Eagles lost in the CIFSouthern Section championship match for the third time in four years, Oak Park exceeded most pundits' expectations.

"It was kind of unpredictable for us to reach the finals," head coach Pat Quinn said. "I thought it would be a rebuilding year."

The coach said he thought the Eagles—who finished 3061 after dropping a 2125, 2325, 2520, 27-29 match at La Jolla in the Division II Southern California Regional Championships on Tuesday—were the third or fourth best team in CIF-SS Division III for most of the season.

The Eagles avenged an earlier loss in March to top-ranked and defending Division III champs Quartz Hill by defeating the Rebels (25-21, 26-24, 25-19) in the section semifinals.

"Quartz Hill was the best match we played all year," Quinn said. "They were clearly the No. 1 team all year.

"We went into their gym with their big crowd, and their crowd was very vocal, and we played as well as we could."

Senior outside hitter Jeff Sakaida led Oak Park with 13 kills and five blocks against Quartz Hill, while Whitney Warren added 35 assists. Eric Varney and Christien McManus added 11 and 10 kills, respectively.

Oak Park stumbled in the finals against Norco, falling 25-21, 15-25, 16-25, 23-25 last weekend at Cypress College.

Several Eagles uncharacteristically struggled in the finale, Oak Park's first loss in a five-game match all season.

Varney, who Quinn considers the team's strongest server, served four balls into the net.

Despite 21 kills, Sakaida had his "worst game of the year," the third-year coach said.

Warren was going to the prom later that night and the coach thought he was "distracted."

Quinn called Norco junior Taylor Sander "probably the best high school player in the country. He could probably start at any Division I school right now."

"We deserved to get beat by a better team," Quinn said. "We had a very successful season. Did we overachieve? You could say that.

"We made it to the CIF finals, but the only thing is once you get there, you want to win. Having lost three of the last four years, it starts to play on your mind, like you can't win the big one. That feeling is not really accurate."

The Eagles weren't giants— their tallest player, Sakaida, is generously listed at 6-foot-2— but their cohesion and balance led to success.

Quinn said the Eagles were strong passing and serving, and attacked well from the middle, left or right sides of the net.

Also, the Eagles did not suffer a major injury all season, which was critical since there were only eight regulars.

"If anyone got hurt, that would have severely hurt our chances," Quinn said.

Considering the school reached the finals for a second straight year despite moving from Division IV to Division III, Quinn thinks the future is bright for Oak Park volleyball.

"We have a very, very strong program," he said.