Bishop Diego girls volleyball opened Tri-Valley League play with a three-set sweep of Cate on Friday at the Brick House, 25-12, 25-22, 25-10.
The Cardinals remained undefeated on the season with the win, moving to 11-0 on the season and 1-0 in TVL action.
“Cate is coming off a long break with trips and things, so we didn’t know what to expect except that they are going to fight,” Bishop Diego coach Dillan Bennett said. “Jordon does a really good job of getting his team to believe they can compete. They more than competed in that second game, and had we kept making errors, we may still be playing this match.
“I’m happy for our girls to face a little adversity and pressure, and they came out of their funk. We expect our league play to be competitive and we look forward to future pressures as we continue the season.”
In the second set, Cate raced out to an 11-3 lead to force a Bishop Diego timeout. Following the break, the Cardinals found their groove and outscored the Rams 22-11 for the rest of the set, powered by the serving of ViVi Klentener, Wynter Thorne-Thomsen and Annabelle Aslanian.
Eliana Urzua put up a monster performance with 26 kills to lead the offensive attack. Meanwhile, Klentner had six kills and Thorne-Thomsen chipped in five kills and three aces.
As for the Rams, Fallon Erickson led the charge in the second set to help the team get out to the eight-point lead.
“Hats off to Bishop, they played well and took care of business,” Cate coach Jordon Dyer said. “We showed some growing pains, and still have a few things to sort out on our side of the net.
“The silver lining was we had several great moments tonight and bounced back well in the second set. Lots to improve on and we’ll focus on getting a little better come Monday.”
Cate will turn around and host Foothill Tech on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
Meanwhile, the Cardinals will take on Sacred Heart of Jesus on Saturday at 4 p.m. at the Santa Barbara City College Sports Pavillion as a part of Youth Sports Day at SBCC.
“Tomorrow is an exciting day for us as a school and as a volleyball program,” Bennett said. “We’re excited to invite the community to be a part of our Youth Sports Day at SBCC starting at 11am.
“While football hosts Northgate, we get to host Sacred Heart in the Pavilion, and we have a few new players joining the lineup for the first time in Nicole and Sophie. Our team is excited to see what they can bring to our court tomorrow.”