In action this past week, the Oakdale High School volleyball team fell to a pair of Valley Oak League opponents eek. On Sept. 17, the girls traveled to Manteca to face East Union. It was a 3-0 loss for the Mustangs. The first set saw Oakdale fall 15-25. In the second and third sets, the Mustangs made it competitive as they lost each by a final score of 23-25.

Two nights later Oakdale hosted Sierra. The Thursday night home contest may have finished with a 3-0 loss for Oakdale, but it was a competitive outing for the varsity girls.

In the first set Oakdale fell behind 0-3 but Avery Gleason got Oakdale on the board when she tapped the ball over the net and in between a pair of Wolves for the point. Later in the match, down 7-15, Oakdale called a time out. When they were down 9-21, the team took another timeout to regroup. Taylor Krum hit the ball hard to the back line landing just fair to make it 10-21 and Jaelyn Ghiglia notched some points for the host team at the net but Oakdale ultimately lost the first set 13-25.

The second set saw Oakdale had their first lead of the evening following a 4-3 early advantage. Ghiglia reached and made contact with her finger tips to give Oakdale a 7-4 lead. The set would go back-and-forth as it was tied at 8 and a few minutes later it was tied at 10. The teams traded points; Samantha Blanc served up an ace, Lauren Ghiglia and Blanc also got some points, with Oakdale gaining a 22-20 advantage. Sierra rallied and tied the set at 23 forcing an Oakdale time out. With the set tied at 24, Sierra would score two straight to win a thriller 24-26.

The final set was a slow start for Oakdale as they fell behind but then did their part to battle back with some good play and points from Gleason, Krum and Daiana Fernandez. Oakdale eventually built up a 18-15 lead, but a Sierra time out seemed to be what they needed as they went on to defeat Oakdale, the Lady Mustangs falling 19-25. Sierra quickly tied the contest at 18 resulting in a timeout for Oakdale. A dig by cut the deficit to 21-18. Oakdale went on to lose 25-19.

This week Oakdale will be on the road Thursday night, Sept. 26 as they take on Manteca.