They won their opening round game but fell on the road in the quarterfinals.

“Thursday night was really tough for me and the team,” admitted varsity head coach Kaitlin Burke, as Oakdale lost to Ponderosa by a 3-0 final to end their playoff run.

Still, the season was a successful one and the girls gained valuable postseason experience.

“Tuesday was awesome,” Burke said. “Started off a little rough for Oakdale as we lost the first set vs. Merced. The girls picked up their communication, which then helped us come out with a 3-1 win against Merced in the first round of the SJS playoffs.”

Oakdale went in as the No. 5 seed and was able to put away the visiting No. 12 Merced squad.

“It was great to be able to host this match and have our hometown crowd to cheer us on,” Burke noted of the Oct. 25 contest. “The next step was Ponderosa on Thursday.”

On the road to Shingle Springs for quarterfinal play on Oct. 27, Oakdale was matched up against the No. 4 seed Ponderosa, coming off a win over No. 13 El Dorado in the opening round.

“The girls started off strong and held their own in the beginning, but throughout the match we just couldn’t seem to execute on offense and hold them on defense. They seemed to be picking everything up on the other side of the net and not letting anything drop,” admitted Burke. “Our Mustangs continued to fight and play hard but in the end were defeated, losing to Ponderosa. It was such an amazing season with a really awesome group of girls.”