On Friday, March 6, some of Bishop’s Varsity Boys Volleyball loaded up into their team van. Others drove themselves and teammates, all gearing up for one of their toughest high school tournaments of the season: Best of the West Tournament.
31 other schools from across the West Coast, and a few features from Hawaii, made their way to Alliant University in Poway, San Diego. Over the course of the two-day tournament, Bishop’s competed in six competitive matches, ultimately finishing fifth place, the best the team has ever done at this tournament.
Coming into the tournament, Bishop’s Varsity Boys Volleyball team was ranked 9th overall in the tournament and 2nd in their 4-team pool, but the team was prepared to make some waves. Within a 4-team pool, each team played each other, and rankings were determined from the results.
They began their play against Lone Peak High School out of Highland, Utah. Captain Giles Beamer (‘26) explained, “We started out a little rough. But we really turned it up as the matches went on.” Bishop’s was able to finish in 2 sets, 25 – 22, 25 – 17. Typically, high school games are played best 3 out of 5 sets, but in tournament play, games are best 2 out of 3 sets.
Later that day, Bishop’s continued to improve and stabilize, winning their next two games against Bellarmine High School of San Jose, California, and San Clemente High School. Bellarmine posed as a challenging adversary, taking one set off of the Bishop’s knight. But, Bishop’s still managed to win 20-25, 26-24, 15-7. The third set in these matches is only played to 15 points.
After a long first day going late, well after 9:00 p.m., Bishop’s had an early wake-up call the next morning. 16 teams remained in the gold bracket, and Bishop’s first challenge was at 9:00 a.m. against Moanalua High School, a skilled Hawaiian team. This game came down to the wire, but Bishop’s won 25 – 23, 25 – 22.
In Bishop’s second match of the day, they went up against Loyola High School. Coming into the tournament, they were ranked first in the nation. Bishop fought well but ultimately lost their first game of the season in 2 sets.
Even though Bishop’s lost, the game was a good measuring point for the team. Volleyball player Logan Yockey (‘27) explained, “We’re good for San Diego but going up against the Los Angeles caliber teams, we got a taste of that different skill and consistency.”
Volleyball player Hudson Yockey (‘27) agreed, “One of my favorite parts of the tournament was watching the top teams play and seeing how good they really are.” Bishop’s later in the season will likely get more opportunities to play some of the strongest teams in the nation.
Bishop’s wrapped up the tournament with a win against another Hawaiian team, Punahou High School. Bishop was again challenged in a 3 set battle. After losing the first 28 – 26, Bishop’s righted the ship winning the next two sets 25 – 20 and 15 – 7.
Bishop’s with a 5 – 1 record far surpassed what they’ve achieved in past years, and performed better than any other team local to San Diego. Only losing one of their weekend games , Bishop’s will bring momentum and fire into the remaining segments of their season.
Will Denning was named by coach Chris Shaffer to the all-tournament team after a very consistent performance.Bishop’s standing at 22 – 1 on the season is currently ranked number 7 in the nation, according to maxpreps.com and first in San Diego. Their next game will be held on Friday, March 27 at 5:30 p.m. against Escondido Charter at home.
