Thousand Oaks Volleyball Team Loses Semifinal

Nordhoff High of Ojai has won three straight Southern Section volleyball championships with an effective yet simple strategy. “They play error-free ball,” Thousand Oaks Coach Ron Beick said. “They let you make mistakes and then they apply the pressure.”

That’s how Nordhoff swept the Lancers, 15-2, 15-6, 15-2, in the State Division II volleyball semifinal match at Nordhoff on Saturday night.

“We made some crucial mistakes early in each game and that allowed them to jump out to early leads on us,” Beick said.

“They’re hard to beat coming from behind.”

Nordhoff, the Southern Section 3-A champion, was led by Leana Merriweather, an All-Southern Section middle blocker.

“She played an outstanding match,” Beick said. “I think she’s the best all-around player on their team.”

A team which Beick feels is the best in the state. “They should win the tournament.”

Although the scores were lopsided, Beick said Thousand Oaks, the Southern Section 2-A champion, didn’t play that poorly. “Beth Welch played very well,” he said. “We just got beat by a very good team.”