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Fall Sports Wrap - Tennis, Polo, Volleyball Stars Shine
10-17 OAK Tennis1
A serve from Alyssa Flores leads Oakdale to another point and doubles win against Sierra. - photo by IKE DODSON/THE LEADER

A key conference win on the girls tennis court, a terrific tournament performance by Mustang water polo players and more victories from the Oakdale High volleyball team were the highlights of the week. Following is a summary of recent results.

 Girls Tennis

Some surprise rain halted a Valley Oak League showdown between Oakdale and Sierra tennis teams on Oct. 11, but when play resumed, Oakdale took over.

The Lady Mustangs won three pivotal third sets and bested the second place Timberwolves 6-3, but lost a critical tiebreaker for the second playoff seed (set wins) if both programs ended the year tied (both are 9-3).

The big finish was made possible by a sharp effort from Francesca Orvis, who overcame a one-sided second set defeat to finish a 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 victory over Anna Cardenas. Christine Winders beat Annie Banks 6-1, 6-4 while Taylor Davis bested Rosie Reynolds 6-3, 6-4.

The Oakdale doubles teams shined. Taylor Kelley and Alyssa Perigen upended Brenda Padilla and Emma Hunter 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 while Rachelle Pabalan and Melissa VanDyke outlasted Kelsey Wills and Barbara Baxter in 1-6, 6-1, 6-4 scores. Madison Lane and Alyssa Flores won a one-sided score over Liana Bassett and Simran Thind (6-0, 6-2) to complete the victory.

Oakdale is at unbeaten league champ, Manteca, on Thursday.

 Water Polo

Oakdale High’s best ever finish in the prestigious Western States girls water polo tournament has a 2012 stamp on it.

The Lady Mustangs went 3-2, were the only local team to advance to the championship pool and bested Del Oro (the same team that beat Oakdale in the water polo section finals last year) 8-5 to place seventh.

“It was very exciting to get a re-match with Del Oro,” Oakdale coach Diane Kline said. “It really turned into a battle of the goalies. The Del Oro goalie is very talented, but I thought that (Hayley Benson) outplayed her.

“We are headed in the right direction in terms of our preparation for the upcoming post-season.”

Oakdale had opened the tournament with a 13-3 win over Turlock, then stunned St. Mary’s in a 7-2 Oakdale win. The Lady Mustangs fell 5-1 to Rio Americano and 11-6 to Clovis North, but rebounded to beat Del Oro.

Shelby Stender led the team in tournament scoring. Emily Stolken had three goals on Del Oro from her center position while the Mustang defense and the likes of Vicki Swarthout played tough.

Oakdale hosts Ripon in a key VOL contest today, Oct. 17.

 Volleyball

Sierra High was able to pull out one during its trip to Oakdale on Oct. 10, but that would be it in a 25-18, 25-10, 24-26, 25-12 Mustang win. Oakdale (10-0) was led by Kaitlin Van Ryn with 10 digs, six aces and 11 kills.

The Lady Mustangs would go on to edge Manteca in three games after 25-23, 25-11, 25-12 scores a day later. Van Ryn had nine kills, nine service points and 11 digs in the win. Brittany Carpenter added eight kills, seven points and six digs. Setter Kellie Gratigny had six points, 25 assists and five digs.

Kelsey McIntyre (seven kills, seven points), Marissa MacDonald (five kills, eight points), Hayley McIntyre (five kills, six points), Madison Ault (11 digs), Kyla Lewis (seven digs) and Hannah Butler (five assists) also played well.

Oakdale is at Kimball today, Oct. 17.