Cathedral Catholic volleyball beats Torrey Pines, wins third straight San Diego Section Open Division title
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – In the 10-year history of the San Diego Section Open Division girls volleyball championships, only three schools have hoisted the trophy.
Two of those schools, Cathedral Catholic and Torrey Pines, faced off on Friday night looking to add another trophy to their collection.
Top-seeded Cathedral Catholic jumped out to a two-set lead before the Falcons rallied to take the third and fourth sets, evening the match. After the Falcons took a 2-0 lead in the final set, Cathedral Catholic responded by taking the next five points. The Dons won 15 of the last 17 points to seal the match, beating the Falcons: 25-17, 25-21, 21-25, 23-25, 15-4.
The win marked Cathedral Catholic's third consecutive San Diego Section Open Division title, further solidifying themselves as the dominant program in the section.
Torrey Pines held leads midway through each of the first two sets before the Dons closed strong to take control. In the third set, Torrey Pines jumped out to an 18-7 lead. Cathedral Catholic fought back and go to within 20-19 before the Falcons finished strong to get on the board.
The fourth set was the most tightly contested of the five. Tied at 16, 19, 21 and 23, Torrey Pines was able to snag the final two points, forcing a final set that was dominated by the Dons.
Last season, the Dons went 42-0 and won 103 of their 104 sets on their way to an Open Division CIF State title. While this year's team (32-4) isn't quite as dominant, they'll enter next week's state playoffs with several key contributors back from a year ago.
The Dons closed out the match with an ace by senior Ayva Moi, who fittingly led Cathedral Catholic in aces entering Friday's championship.
Torrey Pines (24-6) and Cathedral Catholic will learn their seedings for the state tournament on Sunday. The Dons will be looking to repeat as state champions while the Falcons will be searching for their first state title since 2019.
-- Bodie De Silva | bodie@scorebooklive.com | @sbliveca
