When people think of some of the most dominant sports team at Cathedral, they may think of the football team or possibly the basketball team. However, one of the most successful sports programs at CC over the last couple of years has been the boys volleyball team. The boys have been to CIF four straight years, winning the last three years against arch-rivals La Jolla High School. Cathedral versus Saints isn’t the only big rivalry in school anymore, as the budding rivalry with the Vikings has grown with both teams dominating the landscape of volleyball around San Diego recently. The Vikings had made the Division 3 Championship an astonishing seven straight years, but as previously mentioned have dropped the last three championships to our very own Dons.
Coming into the season, the boys had very lofty expectations due to their recent success. Although the 2013 team lost a good amount of seniors, seven grads in total, they boasted a solid core of six seniors, four of whom were starters. But, the volleyball team wasn’t noted for their experience, but rather their inexperience. The roster included no juniors and a combined total of nine sophomores and freshmen. This untested team had a lot to prove going into this season as many of the players had not played at the varsity level before. The season was full of ups and downs for the boys, which should be expected by such a young team. After a strong run in the middle of the season, the boys struggled towards the end, dropping their final three games to end the season.
Going into the CIF playoffs, the boys earned a 4th seed in the D3 bracket; although the team didn’t have their strongest season, they felt disrespected with their seeding. Instead of pouting over their low ranking, the boys decided to prove their worth on the court. In the quarterfinals, the boys dropped St. Augustine in three consecutive sets; the boys had building momentum going into their semifinal game against the 1st seed Del Norte.
From the moment the team walked into Del Norte’s gym, they knew this was their game to win. Once again the boys looked very impressive and put down the Nighthawks in three consecutive sets. The team proved their resiliency and once again proved why they deserved to be in the championship game and, once again, expected a win for the fifth straight year against the La Jolla Vikings.
Although the boys had all the confidence and momentum in the world going into the CIF D3 Championship, they just couldn’t get past La Jolla, dropping in three tough sets. The boys looked strong from the gates but couldn’t close out the first set, and their strong start didn’t continue through the last two sets. The team’s impressive CIF streak was halted, but with a young core, look for them to make strong progress in the next couple of years and be at the top of CIF once again.