CIF-SS DIVISION 3A VOLLEYBALL SEMIFINAL
Tesa Oaks leads the way for Woodcrest with 31 kills.
RIVERSIDE Hemet girls volleyball coach Joe Schnake tried everything possible to slow down Riverside Woodcrest Christian star sophomore outside hitter Tesa Oaks. But no matter how many lineup changes or blocking combinations Schnake used, Oaks just continued to bomb away. Oaks had at least six kills in every set and finished with 31 in the match to help the Royals defeate Hemet, 25-20, 22-25, 25-23, 25-21, in a CIF-SS Division 3A semifinal match Tuesday evening. Woodcrest Christian (23-3) advances to the section finals for the first time in the program’s history. This also will be the school’s first trip to the section finals in an indoor sport, Royals athletic director Charlie Ricards said following the match. “This is absolutely incredible. We just made school history,” said junior libero Anna Stevenson, who led the Royals defensive effort with 30 digs. “I think our energy was the biggest factor of all.” Oaks sent the home crowd into a frenzy when she ripped a kill from the back row to seal the victory for Woodcrest Christian. Oaks said her performance Tuesday night would not have been possible without the work of her teammates in the back row. “I think our passing was really strong, and that lead to good attacking options,” said Oaks, who also had 21 digs on the night. Lauren Wells provided an assist on the offensive end with 19 kills for the Royals. “We were able to slow down No. 4 (Wells) at times, but we simply had no answers at all for No. 9 (Oaks),” Schnake said. Oaks got off to a blistering start, blasting eight kills in the first set. Hemet (27-3) did itself no favors, tallying eight hitting errors and five service errors during the opener. Hemet bounced back in the second set, as Audrey Stoffel came off the bench to give the Bulldogs a spark. Stoffel tallied five kills and a handful of digs in the set. “She has been our go-to utility player,” Schnake said. “She has a great attitude and work ethic. She gave us that boost.” The third set was the tightest of the night as both teams held one-point leads down the stretch. Woodcrest pulled it out, with Wells and Oaks hitting back-to-back kills. The Royals’ dynamic hitting duo finished with all of the team's 14 kills in the set. “We’ve been blessed to have two fantastic outside hitters, and we're going to use them,” Royals coach Teri James said. Mallory Marcus finished with 21 kills to lead Hemet, including three straight in the fourth to give the Bulldogs a 16-12 lead. Woodcrest rallied, however, going on an 12-4 run to earn four match points. Woodcrest Christian had knocked off the No. 2 seed (Templeton) and No. 3 seed (Hemet) in consecutive rounds. The Royals will now face top-seeded San Juan Capistrano Saddleback Valley Christian in the finals. The date, time and site of the match will be announced today. CONTACT THE WRITER: [email protected]