Oakdale High’s varsity soccer team rebounded from a rough start to league play with big wins over the past week, while Mustang volleyball, water polo, golf and tennis teams saw their own bounty of success at the end of September.

Soccer
An 0-3-1 start to the league campaign suddenly turned around for Oakdale after the Mustangs claimed two victories this past week. The team upended Weston Ranch in a 2-1 score on Sept. 26 after a goal in each half. Goalkeeper Scotty McNeil and Erasto Ruiz scored in the win. Jose Becerra and Gustavo Ruiz assisted on the scores and McNeil had four saves.
Ruiz scored twice and assisted on another goal in a 3-1 win over Manteca two days later. Oakdale found all three scores in the second half of play. Javier Aguiniga also tallied his fifth goal of the season during the victory. McNeil (five saves) and Davis Harper assisted scores as well.
Manteca was 3-1-1 and second place in the conference standings prior to the match up with Oakdale. The Mustang upset leaves Oakdale (2-3-1) just a game out of third place with eight games to play. The conference takes three teams to the Division IV Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs.

Volleyball
The Lady Mustangs landed impressive 25-11, 25-13, 25-3 wins over Kimball for a three-game sweep on Sept. 27.
Domi Powell delivered six kills, 12 service points and four digs in the win while Justina Keith chipped in six kills, five points and two digs. McKenzie Willet added six kills, eight points, and six digs while Kaitlin Van Ryn came through with 17 points and six digs. Setter Kellie Gratigny offered up 11 points, 21 assists and seven digs as well.
The Mustangs went on to beat East Union in three games on Sept. 29 after kills from seven different hitters and double-digit service points from four players. Oakdale is 5-0 in league action.

Water Polo
Oakdale High’s boys and girls water polo teams kept their spotless Valley Foothill Conference records alive with terrific defense and convincing wins over Sonora on Sept. 28.
The Mustang boys won in 7-2 fashion after six big goals from Neal Cadra and a lone score by Braden Lee. Michael Trip landed 11 saves with several assists in the win.
The Oakdale girls saw a 9-2 victory after six Savannah Stender scores and a goal each by Shelby Stender, Jennie Siemsen and Cassie Lee. Goaltender Hayley Benson added six saves for the Mustangs.

Golf
The Lady Mustangs (8-1) cling to their VOL deadlock with East Union after a 252-328 win over visiting Manteca on Thursday at the Oakdale Golf and Country Club. Mabel Wong shot a one-over-par 37 while Dylanie Donahue ended in 51 strokes. Rebecca Cone (53), Michelle Desrochers (54), Nicole Stastny (57) and Jenna Heaton (59) carded low scores as well.

Tennis
Oakdale’s Christine Winders landed first place honors and teammate Madison Lane finished second overall at the Sept. 24 Valley Oak League Novice Tournament.
Their varsity counterparts are still in the top-tier of conference programs on the league standings, but surrendered a 6-3 loss to VOL leader, Weston Ranch, on Sept. 27.
Nicole Armstrong won in a 6-1 set before her opponent retired, and represented the lone singles victory for Oakdale. The Mustangs saw a rare doubles loss from Katie Odom and Laurie Baxter, but claimed exciting doubles wins from the rest of their lineup.
Taylor Davis and Corin Hernandez won in 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 scores while Francesca Orvis and Nicole Dickens claimed a 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 win.
Oakdale dropped a 6-3 match to Manteca two days later after two surprising doubles losses. Dickens and Orvis claimed Oakdale’s lone doubles (2-6, 6-2, 10-6-8) win while Christine Kim (7-5, 6-1) and Lindsay Dunn (6-4, 3-6, 7-4) landed singles win.