It was a crazy day at the second annual Bishop Diego Cardinal Classic girls volleyball tournament on Saturday.
The tournament crowned three champions after running into obstacles in securing a second and third venue for the 28-team event and dealing with a power outage at the Page Youth Center gym on Saturday morning.
“Our coordinators on-site, Mike Maas and Ed Gover, worked with the 16 coaches to determine the best steps forward, said Bishop coach Dillan Bennett. “It was decided that San Marcos would take their pool and another to San Marcos, while the other two pools decided to wait it out at the PYC until a generator could be found and used to power the building.”
Bennett and his site directors came up with a plan to modify the event into three mini tournaments at Bishop, San Marcos and the Page Center.
At Bishop Diego, Newbury Park took first place, beating Oxnard in the final. St. Bonaventure and Arroyo Grande tied for third and Bishop Diego placed fifth with Windward.
San Marcos won the mini tournament at its gym over Viewpoint. Chadwick and Royal shared third and Cabrillo and La Reina tied for fifth place.
Granada Hills of the L.A City Section captured the Page Center event over CIF-SS Division 1 Marlborough. Saugus and Louisville tied for third and Canyon and St. Joseph’s came in fifth.
Bennett was grateful for all the assistance he received from other coaches and athletic directors.
“After a long week of logistical hurdles and day-of roadblocks, the work of the site coordinators, coaches, and athletic administrators was astounding,” he said. “We pulled off a 28-team event in three different buildings. I am so thankful for the help of Mike Maas, Ed Gover, Tina Brown, Dwayne Hauschild, Abe Jahadamy, Wade Ransom, and Aaron Skinner, as all of us tried to navigate a situation that could have spiraled out of control.”
— Noozhawk sports editor Barry Punzal can be reached at bpunzal@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk Sports on Twitter: @NoozhawkSports. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.