Bishop Diego, San Marcos, Santa Barbara Advance to TOC Quarterfinals | Sport

Eliana Urzua and her Bishop Diego girls volleyball teammates made it clear Friday that they will be in the running to win the Santa Barbara High Tournament of Champions.

Urzua’s powerful solo block to end the second set was one of several big plays the Cardinals made in an impressive 25-15, 25-20, 25-14 victory over CIF Central Coast Region power Los Gatos in their second-round match on Friday. was one of them. in Santa Barbara High School’s JR Richards Gym.

The win sends undefeated Bishop (17-0) to a quarterfinal match at 9:45 Saturday against the Newbury Park team it beat in three sets last month.

San Marcos also played the tournament opener with the lights off and showed great poise, defeating Corona del Mar 25-22, 25-22, 20-25, 25-19. The Royals (20-3) will advance to a quarterfinal game at 8 a.m. against Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks at JR. Richards Gym

Host Santa Barbara beat Valencia in four sets (23-25, 25-22, 25-18, 25-20) and advanced to the quarter-finals of the tournament with 18 teams. The Dons, who previously lost to Yorba Linda in four sets, play Clovis at 9:45 a.m.

Dos Pueblos missed advancing to the quarterfinals, and the Chargers lost their second-round match to Clovis in five sets, 19-25, 25-13, 23-25, 25-23, 15-11. Earlier in the day, DP defeated Marin Academy by scores of 25-16, 25-19, 25-14.

The tournament’s top seed, St. St. Francis of Mountain View advanced to the quarterfinals by beating Ventura in its only match on Friday. The Lancers will play Yorba Linda, which advanced with a win over Clovis East.

Bishop Diego performed well in every phase of the game, disrupting Los Gatos’ fast attacks.

“This is probably the best overall volleyball game we’ve played in the five years I’ve been here,” said proud Bishop Diego coach Dillan Bennett, who led the Cardinals to the CIF-SS title in 2021. keep surprising me. I couldn’t tell you that I would expect a team like ours to come back and make 19 aces against a team as quality as Los Gatos.

“I couldn’t tell you that we would block eight balls as a team against that team, but here we are. “They continue to show up and continue to raise the bar for us.”

The senior combination of Eliana Urzua and Nicole Schuetz was too much for Los Gatos to handle. They combined for 23 kills, four blocks and nine service aces.

Urzua, a UCLA commit, had 13 kills and three blocks. Most impressive was a sultry solo effort on the left wing to end the second set. He kept both hands on the ball and headed straight for the ground.

“It was one of the best blocks I’ve seen in a long time,” Bennett said. “I’m usually pretty calm and collected but I don’t think I’ve celebrated this much in a long time, maybe since I’ve been playing; This was an incredible game at the Division-1-NCAA level, a one-on-one block against one of the best.

“He’s a Big 10 player for a reason. “We’re lucky to have him.”

Karina Urzua, Eliana’s freshman sister and team setter, was as mesmerized by the block as everyone else who watched the game.

“Oh my god, this is amazing, so crazy. Just seeing her and she’s my sister, it’s beautiful,” said Karina, who does a good job of setting up her hitters in one-on-one situations and picking up blocked balls to keep plays alive.

“We went all the way,” Karina said. “We came with this thought: ‘Do not be afraid; We understand this, we are as good as them.”

Returning to the gym where she played for three years before transferring to Bishop, Schuetz was a force at the net (10 kills and one block) and eight aces at the service line. He hit an eight-point serve in the third game to put the Cardinals ahead 18-7.

San Marcos at the Top of Corona Del Mar

The Royals showed great balance on offense in beating a tough Corona del Mar team.

Grace Stone and Charlotte Hastings each produced nine kills, Elena Thomas eight kills, center Cora Loomer seven kills and Josie Gamberdella produced five kills in addition to running a strong, versatile 6-2 offense with Lila Westmacott.

Jordan Schmoller and Loomer were strong mid-blockers, combining for 13 blocks, led by Schmoller’s seven blocks.

Hastings added 15 digs and four aces to her stat line, according to coach Dwayne Hauschild, and reserve liberos Avery Leck and Isla McClintock did a good job filling in for Alina Stapf, who suffered a ruptured appendix and was hospitalized early Friday morning.

“(The tournament) is an opportunity; everyone is doing their best to win again and produce when they get it, and when they do that, it’s nice,” Hauschild said of the players coming off the bench. “We’ve got some depth and we’re like, ‘Hey, you try it.’ we say. And they’re doing pretty well at that.”

Gamberdella said the starters have full confidence in the players coming off the bench.

“Honestly, all our backups are really good. They just did their job and got the job done.

Corona del Mar spiker Cassandra Doll put the Sea Queens ahead in the second set, taking a 15-6 lead.

But San Marcos never panicked and slowly tried to return. Hastings and Schmoller served for aces and Loomer blocked several attacks to trigger the comeback. The southpaw Stone crushed Gamberdella’s back two sets to get a big momentum boost.

“I remember setting it up and then saying, ‘Oh, pull.’ Then Gracie came in and hit it off the ball,” Gamberdella said of the play. “Yeah, she had me do that, so that was really good.”

Gamberdella then fed Loomer for a kill up the middle and Stone followed with a block for 24-21. Hastings completed the comeback with a cross-court kill.

“In these situations, I like to think of the game as one point at a time,” senior Gamberdella said. “No matter how many (points) you can fall behind, as long as you take it one point at a time, don’t get overwhelmed, bite small bites at a time, eventually you can get back up and then get into the game. “It’s a game again.”

The Royals tried to fight back from another deficit in the third game, but Doll provided the Sea Queens with a spark and they went on to force the fourth set.

Loomer and Stone put San Marcos ahead in the fourth set. Stone broke a 16-16 tie with an off-speed shot and the Royals were able to pull away with four more points.

“I like what’s coming out of our team,” Hauschild said of closing the gaps. “I told the girls this is going to help us in the CIF (playoff games) and the rest of the league, coming back from the open and showing you have some guts is going to help us.”

Tournament semi-finals are at 11:30 and 13:15, and the championship is at 16:45.