After a close first set, the Bishop Diego boys’ volleyball team found its form in a 27-25, 25-14, 25-13 sweep of visiting Cate on Tuesday night at the Brick House.
The match had major Tri-Valley League and CIF playoff implications as the two teams continue to jostle for one of the three automatic berths into the postseason.
“It looks like we finally have a group that we’re satisfied with and we’re going to run with them. We only have eight or nine guys so there aren’t a lot of options,” said Bishop Diego coach Dillan Bennett. “Long story short, we are coming around and it’s nice to see.”
Set one was hotly contested. Bishop Diego jumped out to a 4-1 lead after a spike from the back row by Leshawn Cruz, but Cate responded with three consecutive points to tie the score at 4-4 on a soft tap over the block by Lucien Tann.
From that point forward neither team led by more than two points during the opening set. A kill by John Michael Flint gave the Cardinals a 21-19 lead. However, a kill by Ben Richmond evened the score at 23-23.
The Rams reached set point on a Bishop Diego hitting error by Bishop Diego, but could not close out the match as a kill by Damien Krautmann evened the score at 24-24 and kept the Cardinals alive.
A kill by Flint put Bishop Diego ahead 26-25 and the Cardinals took a 1-0 set lead, 27-25, after a Cate hitting error ended a long rally.
“It made us think we had the wherewithal to play, but in the second set we just couldn’t get anything going and it just slipped away,” said Cate coach K.C Collins of the competitive opening set.
In set two, A kill by Richmond tied the score at 9-9, but Bishop Diego took control with an 11-3 run and took a 20-12 lead on a kill by Cruz. A hard spike by Thomas Gaggs clinched a 2-0 set lead for Bishop diego 25-14.
A long serving run by Will Neubauer shifted set three in Bishop Diego’s favor as the Cardinals turned a 10-10 score into a 17-10 lead. An ace serve by Gaggs clinched the third set and the match.
Neubauer finished with a match-high five aces. He also racked up three kills and 23 assists. Gaggs totaled eights kills and three aces. Krautmann added eight kills, five digs and two blocks.
With the victory Bishop Diego improves to 4-3 in Tri-Valley League play. Cate dropped to 3-3 in Tri-Valley League play with the loss.