Mix of newcomers, returners lifts OLP to first state volleyball title

ORANGE — Players transfer programs, and Our Lady of Peace’s girls volleyball team got three exceptional starters this year in twins Dylan and Delilah Wilson and libero Amanda Guzman.

Captain Caitlin Prior has been a varsity player for all four seasons at OLP, while junior Charlotte Wickstrand is a three-year varsity player and co-captain.

Talia and Belen Butler were here last year, but the rest of the Pilots are in their first year on varsity.

While many high school championship teams are forged over three or four years of playing together, Mary-Kate Catton — in her first year as head coach — had three months to build a champion.

There’s no more trying to build this team — it’s now a state champion for the first time in school history.

The Pilots got 13 kills from Wickstrand and a well-balanced offensive attack to beat Redwood City Sequoia 25-18, 25-23, 25-19 in Saturday’s CIF State Division 3 Championship at Santiago Canyon College.

“When we started the season in August, we weren’t exactly sure what we were going to end up with,” Catton said. “We lost a lot of talent last year. I think a lot of people could maybe think this will be a rebuilding year. The conclusion of this season has very much proven that we had a program full of depth and talent.”

Prior has run a balanced and efficient offense all season, and the first set was on brand. The Pilots (22-11) hit .357 as a team compared with Sequoia’s .026. A pair of 6-2 runs fueled a cushion that saw the junior Wickstrand put a transition ball away at set point.

OLP hit .231 for the match compared with .070 for the Ravens (24-16).

“I trust all my hitters and know they can put the ball away in big situations, so that helps us spread the ball around,” said Prior, who had also had three kills, three aces and six digs. “Everyone always is really hungry to hit and works really hard, and I’m just really proud of everyone.”

Guzman led the defensive effort with 14 digs. Talia Butler finished with 12 digs and eight kills, and Wickstrand added nine digs.

OLP fought constantly through errors in set two. Down 18-15, Prior turned to Wickstrand down the stretch. She had four kills from that point, and Butler had a kill at 22-all and a stuff block on set point.

The Pilots went down 10-8 in the third set when Prior took over. She had a kill on a dump and served up back-to-back aces for the 11-10 lead that the Pilots would not relinquish.

When the Wilsons’ older sister, Laney, got hired as an OLP assistant, it was a significant factor behind the twins transferring from Francis Parker.

“I say this every single day: I could never regret transferring here,” said Dylan Wilson, who finished with seven kills and eight digs. “I gained a family.”

Delilah Wilson added six kills. She said the transfers were immediately made to feel welcome.

“Since that first tryout, I knew that this was where we were meant to be, that this was home,” she said. “I want to thank Charlotte and Caitlin and everyone else on the team for making it such a seamless transfer because I honestly didn’t know what to expect.”

After five years on the Pilots’ coaching staff, Catton was elevated to head coach this season. The OLP alumna steadied the transition and built a championship team with parts assembled in many different places in a multitude of different ways.

“We had the lovely surprise of some transfer talent coming in, and we had the reliable returners who were our backbone throughout the entire year,” Catton said. “Every single person on the court or on the bench contributed to our final victory here today. I am incredibly proud of all of them.”