September Newsletter: OLP Athletics

Dance
The OLP Dance Team has had a busy summer and we are excited to be back! We started training in June and have been working hard all summer to prepare for the upcoming season, especially for sideline football with the OLP Cheerleaders. We also attended WCE Summer Dance Experience in July, where we met with over 30 other dance teams from across Southern California and learned from some of the industry’s best teachers and choreographers. Special shoutout to some standout dancers at camp who received special recognition: Melissa Hernandez ’22, Claire Scelfo ’24, and Ivana Togno ’23. Ivana also received an All-Star Award and a prized scholarship. She was one of only 10 dancers chosen to receive a Scholarship out of over 400! Congrats to the entire Dance Team for an amazing start to our season. We are looking forward to being back performing in front of our Pilot family this year and hopefully bringing home some more titles from competitions next semester. Go Pilots!

Basketball
There was a time during the 2020-2021 school year where the prospect of having a basketball season was looking pretty bleak. Thankfully, the window was opened for all of our Pilot athletes to compete.

The Pilot Varsity Hoopers took full advantage of this opportunity and went on a historic run to finish the 2020-2021 school year with a record of 18-6, while finishing as Eastern League Champions, CIF Semi-Finalists and CIF Southern California Division 4 Finalists. Teamwork, determination, grit and class were always on display when these girls took the floor. Thank you Pilot Hoopers for taking us on an incredible run. Our entire OLP community is incredibly proud of you! #likeanOLPgirl

The 2021 OLP Pilot Basketball team included Seniors Chloe James ’21, Laura Vazquez ’21, Claire Nowicki ’21, Mallory Downing ’21, Juniors Isabella Barba ’22, Gabby Baldeaux ’22, Vane Palacios ’22, Kyra Martin-Spencer ’22, Sophomore Maddie Kovar ’23, Frosh Chloe Valdivia ’24 and Jillian Nowicki ’24, and Team Captain Gabriella James ’21.

Tennis
The tennis team has had a tremendous showing at tryouts with many girls interested in joining the team. Tryouts are still in progress but the JV and Varsity teams will be finalized before the end of August. We have an exciting season ahead with the usual format of girls tennis being used again and several matches already in line. Go Pilots!

Cross Country
This year’s Cross Country has about 50 runners ready to work hard and prepare for the upcoming season. Varsity Captains are Julia Torres ’22 and Cameron La Marca ’22. JV Captains are Sofia Silva ’22 and Clara Dominguez ’22. Their first competition will be on September 10 at Rohr Park! Go Pilots!

Golf
The golf team is excited for another great season! We had a wonderful turnout for tryouts this year and are fielding both a JV and Varsity team. The Varsity kicks off the season on Thursday with a match against Francis Parker at Riverwalk Golf Course. The JV team takes on Cathedral at Mission Bay for their first match next week. Go Pilot Golfers!!

Volleyball
The Frosh team had their first match against Valhalla and won a nail-biter in two sets. After coming out to a speedy 8-1 lead in the first set, the Norsemen from Valhalla came storming back and eventually tied it up to 24-24. Our Frosh regrouped and finished out the first set 26-24. After that, momentum was on the Frosh team’s side as they closed out the victory with a second set win.

The JV team easily handled Valhalla and also won their match in two sets. Led by a combination of tough serving and smart ball placement, the Norsemen did not stand a chance against the Pilots.

Varsity Volleyball had a busy weekend to start off their season. With a lot of new faces on the Varsity squad, the Pilots had a very close match against Valhalla, but could not put together the final points in their three set loss on Thursday, August 19. The following weekend, Varsity went to Canyon Crest Academy and Westview High school to play in their first tournament of the season. Although they went 0-5 through the run of the tournament, the young varsity squad got great touches and experiences that will prepare them for their next matches.

Support your Pilots at their first home game of the season as they take on the Bulldogs of Helix High School on Wednesday, September 1. JV and Frosh play at 4:00 pm and Varsity follows.