A triumphant season comes to an end

Boys volleyball continues to exceed expectations

Madelyne Cascione and Ava Harris|May 1, 2023

The Oak Park High School boys volleyball team went into the week with high hopes for their first playoff game on Thursday, April 27. They were set to take on the Valencia Vikings at home. 

As a surprise, the current varsity team played a competitive game against the OPHS alumni team. There were previous players spanning from the class of 2009 to last year’s graduating class. 

On Tuesday, April 25, the gym was full of anticipated fans, eager to see who would win.

“It was so cool to see the alumni playing against our current team,” said senior Stephanie Calderon Arredondo. “Especially the class of 2020 because they were seniors when we were freshmen and now we’re seniors. It’s just crazy to think how much time has passed. It was a really fun and nostalgic time.”

Senior Riley Braddock said that was the practice before their highly-anticipated first-round playoff game.

“It was fun to play with some of the guys I watched win CIF in 2020. Even though it was a great experience, I think it helped us prepare for our challenging game we had on Thursday,” said Braddock.

The Eagles hosted Valencia High School, winning the game 3-1: 25-17, 22-25, 25-20 and 25-19.

“The game went really well, I was disappointed we lost the second set, but it’s okay because we are moving on and I’m super excited to see what happens next,” said Braddock.

As the boys battled during single-round elimination on Saturday, April 29 against Vista Murrieta High School, their season unfortunately came to an end. 

The Eagles lost in 4 sets, giving it their all the whole game: 13-25, 20-25, 25-23 and 20-25.