Joe Reiken felt like his Bishop Diego boys volleyball players could have perked up a bit more for their first match in over three weeks.
“Let’s be honest. We swept Carp tonight, but the game was incredibly boring. I think we played flat… I was not pleased with the energy level that was in the gym tonight,” he said.
The Cardinals made it interesting in Sunday’s 25-22, 27-25, 25-21 victory down at the rival Warriors’ house, as Carpinteria put up a good fight but couldn’t find the ball-control needed against the bigger Cardinals.
“We’ve been playing well in serve-receive, and tonight we just didn’t pass the ball as consistent as we have recently,” said Carpinteria coach Marc Denitz.
Tim Jenkins had a solid match with five kills and four blocks for the Warriors, but his teammates were hampered by hitting and defensive errors. Ross Chambers also dished out 22 assists at setter.
“Give Bishop credit. They won the big points that mattered in a close game like that… Twenty-two, 25 and 21— a point here and a point there and that’s the difference in rally scoring,” said Denitz.
The Cardinals had size on their side with Garrick Vanderfin (15 kills) and Connor MacGillivray (eight kills) — both standing at 6-6 — as well as 6-7 sophomore Spencer Shull, who made his debut in the middle after spending his first two months of volleyball at the opposite hitter position.
“That’s a tough position for anybody to play, especially someone who’s only been playing for two months. But I thought he had a pretty solid game,” said Reiken. “He’s not quite used to the quick hit yet, but his height is still an asset in that spot.”
Reiken also said that Ray Nowak played exceptionally on the left side with 11 kills.
“It’s always nice to beat Carp, and we just came out and did what we needed to do. This is my first game at middle and it’s something new. Coach said I did alright, so I’m happy,” said Shull.
The Warriors had the lead throughout the first game until Nowak stepped to the line and served it to 20-20. MacGillivray put down a monster kill in the middle to put Bishop up 22-20 and the Cardinals won the set when a lift was called on Carpinteria. MacGillivray tallied another kill to open the second frame and Bishop (5-4, 2-2 TVL) held the lead the rest of the way, though the Warriors (3-3, 0-3 TVL) never let their deficit grow to more than three points. Nowak picked up the clutch kill to end it at 27-25.
Shull picked up a solo block in the third to put the Cardinals up 10-6 and Vanderfin crushed three sets down the stretch to close out the match.
Next up for Bishop is Buena, while the Warriors take on TVL powerhouse Oak Park.
