The Bishop Diego boys volleyball team placed fifth at the Surf City Invitational in Santa Cruz over the weekend.
The Cardinals went 3-3 in the two-day tournament. They reached the quarterfinals where they were beaten by Central Coast Section top-ranked Valley Christian of San Jose, 25-13, 25-14.
Bishop lost to third-ranked Carlmont (25-10, 19-25, 15-9) and beat host Harbor High of Santa Cruz (25-23, 25-22) in pool play on Friday. On Saturday, the Cardinals lost a three-set match with Bellarmine Prep (23-25, 25-11,15-12) and bounced back to defeat Paso Robles (25-20, 25-20) to earn a berth in the Championship Division playoffs.
They rallied from a first-set loss and beat Harbor (23-25, 25-21,15-9) before falling to Valley Christian.
“We played several of the top NorCal teams and our guys discovered what it looks like to play against teams who commit full-time to volleyball,” said coach Dillan Bennett. “They also learned they could hang in and battle with those teams, which to me is the most important takeaway from the trip.”
Braylon Katers led the Cardinals with 37 points in the tournament, followed by Liam Flood with 32 points. John Michael Flint led the team with eight solo blocks, “and came up with three big blocks in a row to change the momentum against Harbor in the playoff match,” said Bennett.
Austin Carty led the team with 64 assists and five service aces.
Bishop (14-9 overall) returns to Tri-Valley League play on Tuesday with a home match against Dunn.