It was two years ago when Cathedral Catholic’s girls volleyball team went undefeated and was crowned MaxPrep National Champions.
Seemingly mythical runs like that come rarely, but Juliana Conn wonders if her 2024 Dons squad may have some of that magic in them as well.
Fresh off Saturday’s sweep of rival Torrey Pines, Cathedral Catholic earned the No. 1 seed in the Open Division of the State Tournament, which starts this week for 18 San Diego area teams.
Coming in at 42-3 and ranked 14th nationally, the Dons play Wednesday at 6 p.m. at home against Los Alamitos (32-8).
The six-team Southern California regional bracket includes six teams ranked in the top 23 teams in the nation. Seventh seed Torrey Pines (28-8) opens at Mater Dei (34-4), the No. 2 team in the nation.
“Getting to State in the Open division is always special in itself but seeing some kids stepping up into big roles this season has been super sweet,” said Conn, whose squad has won four straight San Diego Open Division titles. “Following the footsteps of some really great squads like my undefeated 2022 team, this group has made a name for themselves as well as keeping Cathedral at the elite level once again.”
The Southern California regionals are Nov. 19 with the State Championships on Nov. 22 and 23 at Santiago Canyon College in Orange.
Four San Diego teams made the Division I bracket.
Francis Parker (No. 5 seed) San Marcos (No. 6) and Westview (No. 7) will all host matches Tuesday at 6 p.m. Academy of Our Lady of Peace earned the 15th seed and will travel north to Temecula Valley.
It’s unfamiliar territory for OLP, which made the San Diego Open Division for the first time this season. Head coach Nick Pabarcus looks at it as an opportunity to continue building on preseason goals.
“We feel fantastic about the Division 1 State Bid,” Pabarcus said. “The state tournament is interesting as each team we face will be a tough opponent, but if we execute our system, we can be competitive with almost anyone out there. It will be a fun ride.”
San Diego Division I champion Eastlake —winner of the first CIF championship in program history Saturday — is the fifth seed in Division 2. The Titans play a local opponent in the second round against the winner of San Dieguito Academy and Rancho Bernardo. Bishop’s is the No. 3 seed in D2.
Division 3 features the other all-San Diego matchup in the first round when University City plays at Point Loma. La Jolla Country Day and El Capitan are in the bottom half of the D3 bracket.Brawley, Santana and High Tech Mesa are the locals in Division IV, and Southwest — fresh off a D5 title Saturday — will represent SD in the same division for State.
It will be a tough road for all local teams, and one that Conn knows will be earned at every stop.
“Being a top seed for State is great by giving us a home court advantage,” she said. “But we know it really doesn’t mean much as we know all the top eight teams are amazing in different ways and any could go all the way in the State run.”