Last Friday Oak Park boys volleyball took on long-term rival Newbury Park at home. In a pregame interview, junior and setter Asher Bennett expressed his opinion on the match.
“Honestly, I’m angry because [Newbury Park] knocked us out of the playoffs last year,” Bennett said. “I just want revenge.”
It was evident the entire team was in agreement with his statement. From the first point of the game the junior varsity and frosh team stood in the stands and brought a well needed buzz to push the varsity boys to compete. Before the game even started the program was acting like they’d already secured the win.
But Newbury Park wasn’t making the win easy. With a tight setter and middle connection and a strong block it was obvious that the way the Eagles would win the match was through a strong defense. Oak Park barely pulled off a win in the first set with the score of 26-24.
As tensions rose the teams both knew the game was a battle of wills. Oak Park proceeded to get so rowdy that the ref had to ban them from cheering while the other team served.
“The refs said that we were cheering someone’s name and it earned us a yellow card during JV and got us a warning during Varsity,” sophomore Jerry Chang said.
However, this didn’t prevent the boys from cheering the seconds before the ball made contact with the server’s hand.
Using the energy of the crowd the boys were able to secure a win of the second set with the score of 25-18. The team was on the upward trajectory but in the third set the boys took a soft blow and lost 19-25. Head coach Colin Soper was quick to bring the focus back and inspire the boys to face adversity.
“I told them the scores zero zero,” Soper said. “You got to keep going the way we started the first and second set and finish it.”
The boys took that to heart when they came into the fourth set and dominated the court. One key player was Senior and Libero Arnav Saxena. His backrow led to key points and relief on the court. Including the point that gave them the lead with two skilled digs.
“Those last two digs are game winning digs,” Soper said. “On such a great dig you can really set anyone and that changes the game.”
After the significant play the program rushed the court in a frenzy of joy. Jumping up and down celebrating their success. This win is just a step on their journey to CIF.
“Not a league game but we learned a lot about ourselves and we got to get ready for the next league game,” Soper said.
