Bishop Diego boys volleyball went 1-2 across three non-league matchups on Friday and Saturday in El Segundo and Catalina.
The Cardinals fell to Wiseburn daVinci and Calvary Chapel in five sets before sweeping Avalon to round out the weekend.
“Overall, the goal of this part of the season was to go out on the road and play teams we could see in the playoffs,” Bishop Diego head coach Dillan Bennett said. “Being on the road has been a challenge in past playoff appearances, and we wanted to get ahead of those challenges before the postseason.
“I thought we were competitive this weekend, which is a win. We have one more match on the road before we can enjoy the atmosphere of the Brick House to close out the regular season.”
On Friday, Bishop Diego fell short in a five-set reverse sweep to Wiseburn daVinci, 25-21, 25-19, 23-25, 22-25, 12-15.
John Michael Flint filled up the stat sheet with 20 kills, 21 digs and four aces in the loss. Meanwhile, Nick Malesky tallied 13 kills and Damien Krautmann collected 11 kills and 14 digs.
“John Michael continues to be the driving force for us. He’s one of the top players in our area and continues to improve,” Bennett said. “We played five matches in the last five days, and he never came out of a game. In 20 sets of volleyball, he had 74 kills and hit .480.
“He had 18 aces on 87 attempts, which means that 20% of the time he went back to serve, the ball didn’t come back. That’s pretty good volleyball, regardless of whether we win or lose. If he continues to play like that, we’ll be in good shape.”
On Saturday, the Cardinals began their day on Catalina Island with a loss to Calvary Chapel, 25-19, 27-29, 20-25, 27-25, 8-15. They followed that up with a three-set sweep of Avalon, 25-20, 25-16, 25-23.
Flint once again led the charge, accumulating 28 kills, 22 digs, seven aces and four blocks across the two games. Malesky picked up 27 kills, 11 digs and four blocks, while Krautmann ended with 22 kills, 15 digs and five blocks.
“While Nick is always one of our best attackers, I thought he came a long way with his blocking this week,” Bennett said. “He’s starting to see what we’re seeing, and he’s making better moves with his hands at the net. I’m also very grateful for his leadership on Saturday.
“Our team goes through spells where we don’t show the effort or focus to close out a team. Nick stepped in and started getting guys to understand where we want to be in those two areas.”
Will Neubauer facilitated the offense throughout the weekend to the tune of 114 assists and six aces in 13 sets.
Bishop Diego (17-11, 6-0 Tri-Valley League) will take on Buena in Ventura on Tuesday.
“The good news for us is we’re still getting better,” Bennett said. “We still have a few lineup changes we can make that could help us find a few more points late in a set or match.
“I’m excited for these last three matches of the regular season, and hopefully, we can find a few more tools to add to our toolbox heading into the playoffs.”