Bishop Diego won the first boys indoor volleyball match played in Santa Barbara County, sweeping Santa Ynez, 25-12, 25-16, 25-17, at the Brick House Gym on Tuesday night.
The Cardinals celebrated Senior Night in the gym and were led by upperclassmen Shea Romero and Oliver Fowler. Romero had eight kills on 12 swings for a .583 hitting percentage, while Fowler posted a serve-receive average of 2.62 and picked up 13 digs.
Senior first-time players Conner Streett and Ian Stewart each had six kills out of the middle. Basketball standouts Kai Morphy and Matthew Cunningham performed well in their volleyball debuts. Cunningham had five kills, an ace and two digs, while Morphy added four kills and three digs.
Setter Jesus Ramirez handed out 30 assists and was tough from the service line with a team-best seven aces.
“I am so proud of our guys,” said Bishop coach Dillan Bennett. “They were so fired up to finally get to play indoors again after over a year. Last year was such a disappointing end to what I thought was a pretty good start to a season. With a lot of hard work, new blood, and a hunger to get out and play a sport together, these guys are looking good. Every player got a chance to share the experience tonight, and we are very grateful to be out playing again.”
It was the second win for the Cardinals, who started their season with a grass-court victory over Ventura.
Bennett was pleased how the team came together and hopes it gets to play a full season and a postseason.
“Our new guys showed a lot of potential and meshed really well with our more experienced guys.” he said. “This is a special group of guys that love to compete together, and I’m really looking forward to these next couple weeks. Our basketball guys are very good athletes and, with a few more weeks of practice, they could be very good.
“My hope is these guys can get a postseason opportunity after losing one last year, because as a Division 5 team in the Southern Section, we have a lot of potential to be very, very good in May.”
The Cardinals host Cabrillo at 5p.m., Thursday in the Brick House.
— Noozhawk sports editor Barry Punzal can be reached at bpunzal@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk Sports on Twitter: @NoozhawkSports. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.