OC netters maintain dominance over Oak Park
By Kyle Jorrey
jorrey@theacorn.com

With the Lions riding an eight-game win streak and the Eagles a seven, something had to give Tuesday night in the first meeting of the season between the Oaks Christian and Oak Park boys’ volleyball teams.

Unfortunately for the Eagles, it was the Lions that ended up doing most of the taking on a night that demonstrated once again that when these two rival schools go at it, no matter what the sport, the atmosphere is guaranteed to be electric.

"There’s a lot of spirit at Oaks (Christian), and I think it goes for all sports here that we want to beat Oak Park every opportunity we get," said OC second-year head coach George Hees. "I think the rivalry is great . . . Our guys are just determined to win this game."

Led by the offensive power of outside hitters Alex Walker and Brandon Skinner, and the set-up ability of senior setter Brandon Denham, the Lions (9-0, 1-0) rolled to a three-game sweep over the visiting Eagles (7-2, 2-1) in this showdown of Frontier League opponents. OCHS, which is currently ranked No. 1 in Div. IV by CIF, won by the scores of 25-18, 25-19 and 25-13.

After the match, Oak Park head coach Meredith Mangum said her young team might have suffered from too much adrenaline—a problem she thinks can be remedied next time.

"This team has a lot of heart, but sometimes we get overly excited, especially for a big match like this," Mangum said. "But that just comes with maturity. Once they become more mature athletes they’ll be able to control their emotions enough to where they’re staying excited and pumped up, but at the same time they’re efficient."

Oak Park senior setter Alex Fliegelman shared a similar assessment.

"Everyone was just so amped and so pumped up that it ended up getting in the way of us playing good volleyball," Fliegelman said. "We stopped playing our game and just tried to do too much."

The Eagles also recorded a disappointing 13 service errors, many of them at critical junctures in the match when OPHS was trying to rally. These unforced errors were weekend’s Arcadia Invitational, one of the most prestigious high school meets in the country, where she took home first-place honors with a mark of 150 feet, seven inches.

That win has firmly entrenched Giuffre as the female thrower to beat in the state championships in early June.

"She should be one of the favorites, obviously," said Radnoti. "But it’s going to depend on the conditions at that time and the ability to peak people at the end. We’re hoping that she still has a lot to go because while you see her winning by 12 or sometimes 40 feet right now, the whole theory in track and field and throwing is to peak at the end of the season. And that’s what we’re trying to gauge her for."

Judging Giuffre’s recent performances, it appears the season is shaping up just as she anticipated it would several months ago when she told herself she wanted to become a state champion.

"I like to win. It feels good," said Giuffre. "The more you win, the more you like it, and the more you want to keep doing it. It’s good to have goals in sports because it helps keep you in check."