OOCA Boys Volleyball Claims Second Straight 4A State Championship

By WORTHY EVANS

Contributing Writer

Columbia - Oceanside Collegiate’s boys volleyball team overcame an early stumble against Travelers Rest Saturday, the Landsharks pulled together for a 3-1 victory to win their second straight 4A state championship Saturday at A.C. Flora High School.

“It means a lot for the team. It says a lot about the kids and their hard work and their dedication,” Oceanside Collegiate head coach Jorge Riesgo said. “Both teams wanted that game. As a team it means a lot about who we are and our character as individuals.”

The Landsharks (23-3) fell behind the Devil Dogs (15-10) early in the first set and while they pulled even, never recovered. Travelers Rest took the first set 25-22.

Oceanside pulled together quickly and jumped to a 6-0 lead as Koda Smith served, and eventually took a 10-3 lead and a 21-11 advantage. The Landsharks closed out the second set 25-16 to tie the match 1-1.

Travelers Rest got back into the game and traded shots with Oceanside for most of the third set, but toward the end the Landsharks moved to a 22-18 advantage on Jack Hancock’s serves and soon won the third set 25-18.



With the game on the line in the fourth set, Travelers Rest and Oceanside battled point for point all the way to when the Devil Dogs trimmed the Landsharks’ lead to 21-20. Oceanside scored four of the last five points to close out a 25-21 set win and match victory.

“It was very challenging for us to get this far, especially after losing some key pieces last year,” Riesgo said. “It took being able to recoup those losses and being able to work hard as a team to achieve our goals.”

“That’s a really good team we played,” Travelers Rest head coach Andrew Lull said. “We tried to stay within ourselves and do what we’ve done all year and just keep executing on those levels, keep spreading the ball around. We have such incredible hitters, and making sure everyone gets hits so other teams have to stay aware of us from the outside, middle, opposite, everywhere.”

The Devil Dogs lose three seniors but have good players to bring up next season.

“We’re just building,” Lull said. “It’s year one for me and I’ve got a lot of guys who love it and a lot of guys who want to get in the gym tomorrow and just keep playing. More than anything it’s a love of the game, and getting those guys who want to play.”

Looking back on the repeat win, Riesgo said it was much harder for the team this year than last year, because this year the Landsharks were the team to beat in 4A.

“Everyone wants to beat us, everyone in our region wanted to beat us really bad, and everyone would usually play their best game of the season against us,” he said. “I believe the first one was a little easier because we weren’t proven yet, and going back to back was difficult. They want to beat the champions.”