OCJEA Volleyball, 1st Place

Shoes squeaked on the gym floors, beads of sweat dripping down their neck, and the varsity girls volleyball team peppered with purpose. The Lizards made their furthest run by claiming the Division 2 CIF Volleyball title. To succeed, athletes trained during the summer.

"Coach Graham put us into a tournament at the [University of] San Diego. We played schools in Northern California, and their teams were taller compared to us. We learned to be more aggressive in our spikes to get the overhead kills, and we scrimmaged with the boys to hit higher. This prepared us for the tall, Tesoro girls at CIF," said Kaitlyn Ma '26.

​With a roster including eight new varsity athletes, one being a freshman athlete, the Lizards faced a

season of change. The team had their largest roster yet of 22.

"We had a deep bench. In our season opener, Milly Bayle '25, our libero, could not play because she had a transfer sit-out period. Luckily, Miranda Perdomo ['28] played the entire game for Milly. Miranda ended up getting the winning point to win the match," said Jane Wood '27.

Despite team aspects changing, coaching approaches also shifted, according to assistant Coach Dereck Zahn, to make this CIF run possible.

"[Our victory was] all hard work and hours [devoted] to the sport, but the energy carried us above everything else. The girls could have been down 18-11 and would still have positive energy. They never let a set defeat them and I really enjoyed seeing [them] so determined after others usually aren't," said Coach Eric Graham.