Just like last year, Cathedral and Bishop Diego’s boys volleyball teams took five games to settle their score. And also like last year, Cathedral was able to edge the Cardinals, taking this one 26-28, 29-27, 25-19, 15-25, 15-9.
Despite the loss, Bishop Diego head coach Joe Reiken thought it was a good way to prepare for Saturday’s Dos Pueblos Invitational, where Bishop will be playing against much bigger schools.
“We played out of our minds tonight,” Reiken said. “The fact that we can take them to five is pretty remarkable.”
Johnny Brand led Bishop on offense with 14 kills and Spencer Shull put down 10 more. Ben Kwock was stellar on defense, tallying 24 digs.
The Cardinals open up on Saturday against Channel League power Santa Barbara and were placed into a pool with the Dons, St. Augustine, Moorpark and Peninsula.
“It was the first match we played tough all the way through,” Reiken said. “We just had no answer for those guys in the middle.
After Saturday’s DP Invitational, the Cardinals (0-4, 0-2) return to Tri-Valley League play on Tuesday at Nordhoff followed by a Thursday home match against Oaks Christian.
