Bishop Diego boys volleyball earned the Silver Division championship in the Del Sol Invitational this weekend in Oxnard.
The Cardinals began their weekend with a trio of losses on Friday before bouncing back with a pair of wins on Saturday to secure the silver division title.
“We knew heading into this tournament that the priority was to get guys a little rest before the playoffs while getting guys in that won’t see much playing time for the rest of our season,” Bishop Diego head coach Dillan Bennett said. “In the last few years, we’ve relied on our starters to take a ton of swings late in the season, and we’ve lost in the first round of playoffs each of the last four years.
“This year, we want to win a playoff game, so I wanted to find an opportunity to rest our main point scorers while getting guys who have been working hard in practice a lot of time this weekend. I think the team would agree that, despite our record in the tournament, we achieved all of the goals we set for one another on the weekend.”
On day one, Bishop Diego fell at the hands of Moorpark (25-20, 12-25, 13-15), Pacifica (25-20, 15-25, 10-15) and Channel Islands (25-20, 22-25, 12-15).
The Cardinals responded in bracket play with a sweep of Del Sol (29-27, 25-17) and a three-set victory over Providence (25-21, 23-25, 15-3).
Luca Moreno-Murphy had a strong all-around weekend for Bishop Diego with 26 kills, 26 digs, three blocks and two aces. Nico DeRosa followed closely with 25 kills, 20 digs and three blocks of his own.
Meanwhile, Luke Walters (84 assists, 18 digs, 12 kills, 6 blocks, 5 aces) and Kingston Bustos (39 assists, 26 digs, 12 kills, 3 blocks, 2 aces) each filled up the stat sheet as well for the Cardinals.
Bishop Diego (22-8, 9-0 Tri-Valley League) will round out the regular season at home against Foothill Tech on Tuesday at 5 p.m.