The following is an except from MaxPreps article “High school volleyball rankings: Cathedral Catholic caps unbeaten season to finish No. 1 in final MaxPreps Top 25.”

Of the many adjectives to describe the 2022 Cathedral Catholic (San Diego) volleyball team, champion is the most fitting. The Dons capped a 42-0 season Saturday with a sweep in the CIF Open Division final. In the process, Cathedral Catholic also cemented its title as 2022 MaxPreps National Champions, finishing No. 1 in the final MaxPreps Top 25.

As they have done all season, head coach Juliana Conn‘s group led a surgical and relentless attack on Saint Francis in Saturday’s California final as wave after wave of hitters pounded home kills and the defense dug seemingly undiggable balls to start the offense all over again. And the Dons did it without arguably their biggest hitter, Julia Blyashov, on the bench after being sidelined with an ankle sprain suffered in the quarterfinals.

In her absence, Cathedral Catholic sent Oregon commit Noemie Glover, Jenna Hanes, Milan Bayless, Ryleigh Patterson, Cate Schnell and Kapiolani Coleman through the front row producing not only crowd-wowing kills, but a smothering block that frustrated opposing offenses and stymied all comers.

And while the attack might make the highlight reel, the back row defense from sophomore libero Maya Evens and the setting from Amanda Saeger were the catalyst of what made Cathedral Catholic great.

The Dons were so deep many players and coaches said their most spirited competition often came against them in practice.

“We try to challenge each other and that really pushed us to another level,” Schnell said.

Conn said she knew after last season’s postseason loss to eventual MaxPreps National Champion Marymount (Los Angeles) that the Dons had a chance to be standing at No. 1 at the end of the 2022 season.

“This was by far the best team I’ve had. We have a combination of good volleyball players, athletes and leadership,” Conn said. “This is the first time I graduated 10 seniors. I had youth, seniority, bulk, power and a great setter. I had the whole thing on a platter.

“I’ve had a few good teams at Cathedral, but they never came together the way this team did. It was a once-in-a-lifetime situation.”

Cathedral Catholic’s run included wins over three state champions – Branson (Ross, Calif.), ‘Iolani (Honolulu) and Papillion-LaVista South (Papillion, Neb.) – in addition to national tournament wins in Hawaii, the Dave Mohs in a loaded Southern California field, the Durango Fall Classic and the GEICO High School Invitational.

“When we were putting the schedule together, we knew we had to keep the competition high and give the girls something to look forward to,” Conn said, adding the rotation in the season-opening tournament was about 15 deep. “It was perfect because it was the kind of team that would keep getting better if they had something to push them.”

Blyashov said last year’s postseason loss to Marymount was one of the catalysts for the Dons’ season.

“After that Marymount loss, we came back motivated. I knew I didn’t want to go through that again,” Blyashov said. “I’ve been dreaming about it since before high school. It’s a special moment to be able to do it with this group of girls.”

Cathedral Catholic graduates 10 seniors this season and is sending 10 player to the Division I level, including  Blyashov to Stanford, Schnell to Tennessee, Hanes to Michigan, Glover to Oregon, Bayless going to Colgate, Patterson to Harvard, Mia Compas to Davidson, Amanda Saeger to DePaul, Tehya Maeva to Nevada, Dakota Conway to Florida International and Coleman to Washington for track and field.

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