Tawa’s top 10 national girls HS 2023 volleyball stories

There were many compelling storylines this past fall in girls high school volleyball. This is our top 10, with apologies to Smyrna (Delaware), Lydia Chinchar and Carrollwood Day (Florida.), Lincoln Southwest (Nebraska), Sisters (Oregon) and Louisiana superstars Camryn Chatellier and Sophia Bonnaffee, all of whom fell just outside the list.

10. Pirates rise from depths to earn booty

Oceanside was 9-17 indoors in 2022. In 2023, the Pirates improved 15 matches in the win column, won their first San Diego Section title in Div. 4 and reached the California Div. V state title match for the first time in the school’s history. Coach Nathan Fristed’s team lost in the state championship match, but it battled into five sets with champion Crystal Springs Upland, not bad for a team that Fristed took over six years ago when Oceanside was in the midst of a 56-match league winless streak.

The turnaround started on the beach in the spring, when the Pirates won a league title for the first time in the 116-year history of the school; and it continued this fall, with an eight-match postseason winning streak heading into the state final.

“Every team sets that goal to start the season — win league, win CIF, take it to state,” said Fristed. “You’d like to believe that’s true, but seldom is it an opportunity for each team. We knew we could win CIF [San Diego Section Division 4] because we’d played and beaten everyone in our division. We swept that and this team then believed it could win state and started to gel together. It was an awesome run.”

9. O’Dell beckons

On November 17, 2018, Fairport (NY) boys volleyball upended Sachem North for the New York Division 1 title. That same day, three time zones to the west, Mater Dei captured the California girls volleyball state title in the Open division by sweeping Central of Fresno.

John O’Dell is the longtime head coach at Fairport. His younger brother, Dan, is the longtime head coach at Mater Dei.

Fast forward five years and a day. Fairport, under O’Dell, won its first state title since 2018 with a sweep of Shenendehowa. Several hours later, Mater Dei, under O’Dell, upended Archbishop Mitty in four sets to win the CIF Open state title, the first for the Monarchs since 2018. Mater Dei, incidentally, also clinched the mythical national championship with the win.

Two titles for the coaching brothers, one on…