Bishop Diego outside hitter Eliana Urzua has been on a tear of late and she continued her dominance with a match-high 29 kills to boost the Bishop Diego girls’ volleyball team to a 25-17, 25-17, 25-21 sweep of Cate on Thursday night.
The Cardinals came into the match one game behind Cate in the Tri-Valley League standings and were in desperate need of a victory to solidify their playoff hopes.
“I was really pleased with how they responded tonight after the La Reina match. Cate is a really good team. They have played tough with La Reina and they have played tough with St. Bonaventure,” said Bishop Diego coach Dillan Bennett. “Fortunately we got to turn it around in the Brick House and hopefully get some momentum going our way for next week.”
Cate is an excellent serving team and relies on tough serves to earn points and keep opponents out of system, but Bishop Diego was solid in serve receive for the majority of the match.
In addition to her 29 kills, Urzua came up with 13 digs and displayed excellent ball control all over the court.
“Eliana is obviously a very good hitter, but her ball control is also very high level,” Bennett said. “I thought Sage Thorne-Thomsen did a much better job in serve receive tonight and Anna Fittapaldi is starting to get more comfortable at the Libero spot.”
A soft tap over the block by Urzua gave Bishop Diego a 16-11 lead in set one. An ace serve by Wynter Thorne-Thomsen extended the Bishop Diego lead to 23-16 and forced a Cate timeout. The Cardinals went on to clinch the set 25-17 on another Urzua Kill.
In set two, Bishop Diego jumped out to a 4-1 lead on an ace by Vivi Klentner and extended their lead to 8-2 on a kill by Urzua, The UCLA commit has registered at least 20 kills in seven consecutive matches
“We set Eliana every time we can and we lean into it. She is a very high level player, who can hang in there and handle that load,” Bennett said. “We don’t really need balance. We just need Eliana to play well and if she gets a ball that’s set above the net from wherever she is on the court she is going to score.”
The Cardinals clinched set two, 25-17, on a spike through the block by Sage Thorne-Thomsen.
In set three, Cate took a 3-0 lead after an ace by Melanie Davidson. The Rams extended their lead to 8-5 on an ace serve by Oyin Opawumi.
However, an ace serve by Sofia Parisotto evened the score at 11-11. The two teams went back and forth until a kill by Urzua gave Bishop Deigo a 22-21 lead. Another Urzua kill extended the Cardinals lead to 24-21 and Bishop Deigo clinched set three and the match on a Cate hitting error.
Cate was led offensively by Davidson and Opawumi, who finished with eight kills apiece. Coco Klinman also chipped in seven kills.