Bishop Diego boys volleyball coach Dillan Bennett was playing the sport at Dos Pueblos the last time the Cardinals reached the CIF-SS semifinals.
Bennett has the Cardinals back in the final four, and on Saturday they’ll battle Orange County’s El Dorado at the Brick House for a berth in the Division 5 championship. First serve is 3 p.m.
Bennett has guided Bishop Diego (26-8) to a record season with a team made up primarily of talented athletes from other sports who are new to competitive volleyball.
Teaching them the game has been a blast, and advancing to the semifinals is a fantastic achievement. They almost didn’t make it. The Cardinals rallied from an 0-2 deficit in the quarterfinals at Brea Olinda and won the match in a reverse sweep.
“We’re excited to keep our season going,” said Bennett. “We have such a fun group of guys, and every practice is full of laughs. This has been my most enjoyable coaching experience as far as the group of guys and how much fun they have been to have on the team.”
Bennett’s roster is full of multi-sport athletes and they’re killing it on the volleyball court. John Michael Flint and Damien Krautmann, standouts in football and basketball, respectively, are the leading point makers as potent outside hitters. Tua Rojas, the starting quarterback on the football team, and Kingston Bustos, who has played five sports in his Bishop career, have developed as middles; Tyler Roberts, Luca Moreno-Murphy and Nico DeRosa have been solid as role players and setter Luke Walter has done a fine job running the offense.
The Cardinals are facing an El Dorado team that seems to be peaking the right time. The Golden Hawks swept their last two playoff opponents, including Dos Pueblos in the second round.
El Dorado coach Brittany Brown guided the Golden Hawks to the CIF finals in 2023. Some of her seniors were freshmen on that squad. Senior Ian Dang and junior Michael Lovett were the kill leaders against Dos Pueblos.
“Their coaches have done a great job identifying their strengths,” said Bennett. “They play in a tough league, so we expect a great team to show up Saturday. They have a few high-flying pin hitters and they are a strong blocking team. We’re gonna have to play our best volleyball and get a few good breaks our way to keep this run going.”
