Oaks Christian girls volleyball swept Harvard-Westlake 3-0 on Tuesday, Oct. 27, bouncing back from a pool-play loss to keep its CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoff run alive.
The Westlake Village school won by set scores of 25-19, 27-25 and 25-21 in Pool A's second round, according to results posted by Oaks Christian Athletics. The Lady Lions moved to 1-1 in pool play and 26-3 overall, per MaxPreps.
The second set provided the tightest action. Oaks Christian needed 27 points to close it out after Harvard-Westlake pushed past the standard 25-point threshold.
The No. 4-seeded Lady Lions entered the eight-team Division 1 bracket on a 22-match winning streak and with a 25-2 record, according to Sports Illustrated's state rankings published Oct. 22. That streak snapped in the pool opener against Santa Margarita, making Tuesday's match against the 10th-ranked Wolverines a must-win to stay in contention.
Sports Illustrated's pre-playoff rankings listed three Oaks Christian attackers driving the offense: Tristyn Bailey with 284 kills, Elyse Wong with 254 and Malia Ogbechie with 211. Wong is a sophomore outside hitter and opposite, according to MaxPreps.
The CIF Southern Section's Division 1 format features two four-team pools. The winner of each pool advances to the championship match Saturday, Nov. 7, at Cerritos College.
The win sets up a decisive Pool A finale. Oaks Christian travels to top-ranked Mater Dei on Saturday, Oct. 31, at 2 p.m. Mater Dei sits at 2-0 in pool play and carried a 35-1 record and the state's No. 1 ranking into the postseason, according to Sports Illustrated.
