Historic season comes to a close

The Saddleback women's volleyball team saw its 2023 season come to an end on Tuesday with a 3-2 loss to Orange Coast College in the regional semifinals.  The Bobcats broke a 25-year slump in 2023 in what was a historic season.

There's an old adage in sports that it is difficult to beat an opponent three times in a season.  Unfortunately, the historic proverb reared its head on Tuesday and bounced the Bobcats from the playoffs.

Saddleback and Orange Coast battled for five sets before Orange Coast came away victorious.  The Pirates won games 1-3-5 while the Bobcats were victorious in games 2-4.  In the fifth, OCC outlasted Saddleback 15-10 to move on to the regional finals where they will face Irvine Valley on Saturday.

Saddleback had a phenomenal showing in 2023.  The Bobcats broke a 25-year drought in winning a piece of the Orange Empire Conference title for the first time since 1997.  Saddleback finished with 18 wins, which was the second highest total since 1998.  The Bobcats had the Orange Empire Conference MVP in Stila Fresenius (pictured), who led the state in kills for the year.

Congrats Saddleback volleyball on a sensational season!