CHINO HILLS — The second set was perhaps as bad as the Oaks Christian girls volleyball team could play.
It got quite a bit better after that.
Third-seeded Oaks Christian shook off that second set to defeat Chino Hills 25-14, 8-25, 25-21, 25-21 in a CIF Southern Section Division 3 quarterfinal match Wednesday evening.
Oaks Christian (27-3) will host second-seeded Chaminade in the semifinals Saturday, a rematch of a Division 4 semifinal from last year, won by Oaks Christian in five sets.
Chino Hills, the CIF-SS Division 5 runner-up last year, has its season end with a remarkable 29-3 record.
“I don’t think we’ve been beaten that badly in a set this year,” Lions coach Julie Bennett said. “I’m so proud of the girls for coming back. And we were down in the third set. To be able to come back from that too, is really good teamwork.”
Each of the final two sets could have gone either way. The Huskies led by as many as five points early in the third set and Oaks Christian didn’t take the lead for good until 22-21.
Manaia Ogbechie, a 6-foot-2, sophomore middle hitter, scored the final two points of the set on a block and a kill.
Again in the fourth set, Chino Hills got off to a good start leading by as many as four points. But the Lions took the lead for good at 22-21 when an attempt by Chino Hills went long.
It was a stunning end for Chino Hills after a dominant second set.
“We made some adjustments and we made sure we served a little bit stronger (in the second set),” Chino
