Boy's Volleyball | 11/11/2024 12:39:00 PM
Columbia, SC – The Oceanside Collegiate Academy boys' volleyball team completed its march to a state title on Saturday, blanking rival Bishop England 3-0 to earn the program's first championship.
"I am very proud of the boys this year - they truly came together as a team," OCA coach
Doug Smith said. "This was a big win for the boys, for the school and for the program. I look forward to seeing boys' volleyball grow at Oceanside and, hopefully, we can get some of the other kids from the other sports to participate next year."
In just the fifth year for the program since starting as a club, the Landsharks finish with a 26-3-1 record this fall. OCA secured its first title by earning its third win of the season over the Battling Bishops. The Landsharks set the tone with a 25-14 win in the first set before taking the second set 25-21 and then closing out the match 25-22 for the title.
"Last year, we didn't even make it to the playoffs," junior
Wyatt Berchtold said after the match. "Now, this year, we made it all the way to the Class AAAA state title and that is so special. Most of our lineup this year has been seniors, but everyone has been so committed to winning."
The Oceanside roster includes eight seniors:
Gabriel Riesgo-Rivera,
Jedidiah Christy,
Tyler Kraftchick,
Caleb Smith,
Calvin Rollins,
Drew Swyt,
Carson Jones and
Michael Camacho. While that roster appeared to be veteran in nature, some of those players only had one or two years of volleyball experience coming into this season. Berchtold is one of five juniors on the roster along with a sophomore and five freshmen.
"Everyone is so excited to win this championship, but we did it with a lot of young players," Smith said. "It is so hard to get kids to look at playing volleyball because it is seen as a girls' sport. Now, it is a boys' sport as well at Oceanside and I expect us to have a great team with a chance to come back and do this again next year."
Oceanside will have a chance to sweep the SCHSL volleyball championships on Tuesday when the girls' squad goes for its first Lower State title when they host Orangeburg-Wilkinson. With a victory, the Landsharks will advance to Saturday's state title game against either Chapman or Powdersville. That title game will be played in Columbia at Dreher High with a scheduled start time of 2 p.m.
About Oceanside Collegiate Academy: Oceanside Collegiate Academy (OCA), located in Mt. Pleasant, S.C., serves high school students in a safe, small and family-centered setting. Our students seek the opportunity and challenge of rigorous curriculum, high academic standards and elite athletics while earning up to two years of college credit. OCA serves students in grades 9-12 using an honors curriculum in 9th and 10 grades with a dual enrollment curriculum in 11th and 12th grades
Learn more about OCA by visiting our website at OceansideCollegiateAcademy.org and by following us on social media on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. For video content, visit our YouTube channel.
