Ocean View girls’ volleyball sweeps Katella, earns share of Golden West League title

Two days after fashioning a comeback that kept its Golden West League title hopes alive, Ocean View High leaned on its seniors to finish the job on Thursday.

Outside hitter Brooke Abascal had a match-high 18 kills, as the Seahawks defeated Katella 25-17, 25-19, 25-10 to earn a share of the league crown in a regular season finale at home.

Ocean View (14-12, 9-1) finished tied atop the league standings with Westminster (20-10, 9-1), which it rallied to beat in five sets on the road earlier in the week.

Ocean View’s Brooke Abascal hits against a Katella defender during a Golden West League volleyball game on Thursday.

(Scott Smeltzer / Staff Photographer)

“I couldn’t have asked for a better way to end the season,” Abascal said of the comeback against the Lions. “It’s just the energy. Our fans — even the fans on Westminster’s side going at us — it just made us fight harder. So I thought it was a great experience.”

Since both schools compete in Division 7 for the CIF Southern Section playoffs, Ocean View will enter the postseason with the second automatic bid from the Golden West League. Westminster won the first meeting between the teams in four sets, giving it a 5-4 advantage in sets won in the series.

Ocean View will travel to take on Riverside JW North (14-16, 7-1), the Inland Valley League champion, in the first round on Thursday. The section released its girls’ volleyball playoff pairings on Saturday.

Ocean View’s Paula Bledsoe hits against Katella’s Maria Alcantar during a Golden West League volleyball game on Thursday.

(Scott Smeltzer / Staff Photographer)

Paula Bledsoe, a senior middle blocker, contributed five kills on senior night for Ocean View in the sweep of Katella (5-20, 3-7).

“I really think that the years that the upperclassmen have been able to bond, combined with all these new freshmen that we love, we’re really created a very supportive, hardworking, incredibly talented team,” Bledsoe said. “I have confidence in all the players. Anybody in the starting six, I have confidence in anyone being out there.”

Senior middle linebacker Lizbeth Espinoza provided four kills, and senior outside hitter Catalina Jacinto had three kills and five service aces. Junior setter Natalia Christensen handed out 25 assists to go with three aces.

Ocean View’s Lizbeth Espinoza hits against Katella’s Brianna Luna during a Golden West League volleyball game on Thursday.

(Scott Smeltzer / Staff Photographer)

Maria Alcantar had four kills, three aces and a block to lead Katella. Maggie Acevedo also dropped in two aces.

Ocean View dropped its first three matches of the season and endured another three-game losing streak heading into league, but the Seahawks found a path to a league title in Cara McGhee’s first year as head coach.

Ocean View’s Naomi Ortega (2) celebrates a point over Katella during a Golden West League volleyball game on Thursday.

(Scott Smeltzer / Staff Photographer)

Jacinto described McGhee as “team-oriented” and shared an activity that was introduced midseason to bring the team closer.

“Towards the middle of the season, she would have us write positive messages in a book that we would pass around,” Jacinto said. “That kind of got us together as a team and it got us to see what each other was thinking and thoughts about the games we were about to play. I thought that was a way that she unified the team.”

Ocean View’s Catalina Jacinto dives for a ball during a Golden West League volleyball game against Katella on Thursday.

(Scott Smeltzer / Staff Photographer)

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