Bishop Diego Advances to CIF-SS Division 3 Semifinals After Sweeping Royal 25-15, 25-15, 25-16

The Bishop Diego girls’ volleyball team picked the right time for one of its best performances of the season.

The Cardinals punched their ticket to the semifinals of the CIF Southern Section Division e playoffs  with a 25-15, 25-15, 25-16 sweep of Royal on Wednesday night at the Brickhouse.

“We said ‘we want to put this team in trouble.’ Passing is not exactly a strength of theirs, which really helps us because I think we are a tremendous serving team,” said Bishop Diego coach Dillan Bennett. “They just executed a great game plan and did some really good work from the service line.”

Bishop Diego was once again led by UCLA commit Eliana Urzua, who finished with a match-high 16 kills and four aces. Loyola Marymount commit Nicole Schuetz added 12 kills.

‘The first set was a sign of things to come as Bishop Diego jumped out to a big lead and clinched the set on a thunderous cross-court spike by Winter Thorne Thomsen.

Schuetz made sure the Cardinals built off their momentum in set two as her spike increased the Bishop Diego lead to 11-4.

“I feel like we’ve gotten better and better throughout the season with our serving. We put a lot of pressure on them, keeping them out of system,” Schuetz said. “They have some really great middles so that was a key point for us to keep it away from them.”

A block by Royal’s Katie Milano cut the Highlander’s deficit to 18-13, but Bishop Diego closed set two on a 7-2 run and clinched the on an ace by Eliana Urzua.

In set three, Royal cut its early deficit to 7-6 on a kill by Jordan Alexander. However, a long serving run by Eliana Urzua capped off by an ace serve that gave the Cardinals a 13-6 lead broke the set open.

Bishop Diego clinched set three and the match on an ace serve by Sophia Ott. Royal had a strong season including an undefeated record in Coastal Canyon League play. 

“I’ve never been this far in CIF before. This was one of my goals in coming to this school to get this far,” Schuetz said. “I’m super proud of this team and super excited.”

The semifinals will be this Saturday against Cypress, which defeated Marina in four sets in the semifinals. Start time is at 4 p.m. in the Brick House. 

;