Best of the Best!
Alliant University in San Diego was the site of the 16th Best of the West Boys Volleyball Tournament last Friday and Saturday. Host school Poway misnamed the 32-team event when it started in 2007, with Corona del Mar defeating Santa Barbara for the championship. Even in its first iteration, the tournament should have been called the “Best of the Best,” because the nation’s best teams competed even though only California teams were there.
In the tournament’s second edition, Punahou, from Honolulu, was invited to play. The Buffanblu finished second that year and won in 2010. More out-of-state teams eventually made their way to San Diego – five this year – which bolstered the claim that the best of the best played here.
This year’s edition, some coaches claimed, was the best Best of the West has ever been, which is saying a lot since it has ALWAYS been exceptional. Of the 32 teams competing, 13 – that’s 41 percent – carried a pre-season or March 13 NATIONAL Top 25 ranking from the AVCA/USA Today Coaches Poll. That means, with eight pools of four teams to start, five teams considered among the best handful of teams in the nation were not “good enough” to be No. 1 seeds in their respective pools. THAT’S how good Best of the West was.
As elite as the tournament looked on paper, it was even better when play began.
Top-seeded Mira Costa, which began Friday looking for its record fourth title, to break a tie with Newport Harbor and Huntington Beach; won Pool 1, but needed to overcome 17th-seeded Carlsbad, a national top 20 school; 17-15 in the third after dropping the first set. The Mustangs trailed 13-11 in the third because Carlsbad’s front line of 7-0 Parker Tomkinson and 6-10 Roman Payne was putting up a troubling block, before rallying for the win.
Mira Costa, which features hard-hitting senior OH Victor Loiola; also needed to get by 16th-seeded Tesoro, a national top 20 school; 15-9 in the third after dropping the first set.
Across the pools, there were many eyebrow-raising results as teams fought to get into the 16-team Gold Division bracket. Huntington Beach, a top 10-ranked team nationally, barely got by the No. 19 seed, Santa Barbara, 15-13 in the third. The same pool saw Santa Barbara, Cathedral Catholic, the 2023 San Diego Section Open division champion; and Harker School, the 2023 Central Coast Section Division 2 champion; all go 1-2, with Cathedral Catholic making Gold on a tiebreak.
In Pool 4, defending champion Newport Harbor lost in three to formidable Torrey Pines, perhaps the favorite in the San Diego Section this year; and Corona del Mar, the pre-season National No. 1 and first-ever Best of the West champion; needed three sets to defeat Kamehameha of Honolulu, one of three Oahu teams to make the trip.
In Pool 7, Edison of Huntington Beach went 3-0 to win the pool, but the Chargers hardly displayed dominance. The team, which entered the tournament with a 6-5 record; needed three to get by La Costa Canyon, the No. 26 seed. It needed three to defeat San Clemente, a top 25 team nationally; 15-13 in the third; and it needed three to sneak by Clovis East, last year’s tournament darling (and second-place finisher); 16-14 in the final set.
The second day also produced surprises. Mater Dei knocked off Loyola, the CIF Regional and anointed 2023 national champions; in the Gold Division Round of 16. Torrey Pines rallied from down 14-11 in the third to surprise national top 10 Sandra Day O’Connor of Arizona, the 2022 champion, in a quarterfinal. And Mira Costa had to rally from a set down for the third time in the tournament to take out Torrey Pines in a semifinal.
The Silver Division matches were as closely contested. Five of the eight first-round matches went the distance and the Silver champion, Highland of Arizona, defeated Del Norte of San Diego, 36-32, 28-26, in the Silver Division final.
The Gold Division championship match pitted Mira Costa and Newport Harbor, with the winner taking home Best of West honors for the fourth time. Just three days before, the Sailors had made the drive up the 405 Freeway to Manhattan Beach and defeated Costa in five after rallying from down two sets to one.
There would be no rally this time. Behind Loiola, a 6-4 Long Beach State signee whose entertaining father, Jose, I covered on the beach; libero Johnny Dykstra, 6-5 junior MB Alex Heins, defender Zach Chapin, 6-4 freshman Mateo Fuerbringer, and others, Mira Costa played with focus and energy from the start in the 25-19, 25-19 win. Loiola, Dykstra, and Heins to the 13-player All-Tournament Team.
“The Best of the West seemed as stacked as ever this year,” said coach Greg Snyder. “The boys really put in a team effort and grew as the tournament progressed. We were tested every step of the way by incredibly talented teams and players. The team is very proud of the huge accomplishment, but our goal is still ahead of us.”
Newport’s second-place finish was fueled by All-Tournament members Riggs Guy, a 6-4 senior OH; and senior Grayson Springborn, a first-year starting setter.
“To make the final two years in a row is a massive accomplishment and we are so proud of what our guys showed last weekend,” said coach Andrew Mabry. “Torrey Pines played an excellent match on Friday in pool play to win the pool and they had a great run making the semis. Our Newport guys responded throughout the entire weekend with wins over CDM, HB, and Tesoro to make the championship match.”
Torrey Pines and Tesoro tied for third. OH Christian Connell and libero David Quinones made the All-Tournament team for the Falcons, whose finish matched the highest finish ever for a San Diego Section team. Connell, a USC recruit, hit .371 for the tournament with 74 kills. Declan Flanagan, a 6-5 sophomore, added 52 kills. Tesoro was led by setter Henry Utterback and 6-8 OH Kaumana Carreira, a Stanford signee.
Setter Jake Pazanti, a Long Beach State signee; and his Huntington Beach Oilers tied for fifth with Punahou. That means that the top six finishers have accounted for 12 of the 16 Best of the West titles.
Huntington Beach made the quarterfinals despite playing without its starting libero and losing its top outside to an injury on Friday. The Oilers led 17-14 in both sets of the quarterfinal with Newport Harbor before losing, 25-19, 25-23.
“I think we are right there,” said HB coach Craig Pazanti. “We just need everyone to step up a little to replace that guy [the OH1].”
Mater Dei joined O’Connor in placing seventh overall.
“The Monarchs had an excellent weekend in San Diego,” said Mater Dei coach Jake Nuneviller. Mater Dei’s big win came in revenge over Loyola and required a 10-point rally in the first set to defeat the Cubs, possibly for the first time in program history. The Monarchs, hampered by an ankle injury to their starting setter midway through the second set; lost in the next round to Tesoro.
“I would like to highlight two players, Tyler Robinson (Middle Blocker) and Matthew Wheels (libero),” Nuneviller added. “Tyler was a dominant force at the net both attacking and blocking. Matthew was arguably the best defender in the gym despite fighting a stomach bug. Both these young men showed true tenacity and heart.”
San Clemente and Loyola, which each has a tournament title to its credit, tied for ninth overall. San Clemente was paced by junior OH Jack Loper, senior MB Will Whidden, and senior libero Kai Schmitt.
Corona del Mar tied for 11th with Honolulu’s Kamehameha. OH Sterling Foley and setter Ryan Gant were standouts for CDM. The Sea Kings were knocked from contention in the Round of 16 by fierce local rival Newport Harbor.
“As always, CDM thoroughly enjoys going to Best of the West to play the best teams in the nation and it has always been a great team bonding tournament for us,” said coach Katey Thompson. “Day 1 was really great experience for all of our players and we ended the day with a tough battle against Kamehameha [a 15-10 win in the third]! That was definitely one of our hardest-fought matches. We opened Day 2 with a Battle of the Bay Match, which didn't go how we would have wished, but it was a fun preview to this upcoming Friday's match.”
In the Silver Division, Del Norte, which was 19-17 a year ago, knocked off Carlsbad to reach the Silver finals. Dos Pueblos surprised Valley Christian of San Jose, considered by many to be the top NorCal team in the pre-season; in the quarterfinals. And Harker showed well, going 3-3, with wins over Cathedral Catholic, Long Beach Poly, and Los Alamitos. The Eagles graduated only their libero off of last year’s CCS D-2 championship team. Host Poway made the Silver quarterfinals before losing to Carlsbad, but the Titans were without its top player, MB/RS Danny Sawyer.
In action last night from the statewide top 25…
No. 5 Loyola improved to 12-1 with a road sweep of Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks. Setter Parker Schloss and OH Sean Kelly led the Cubs, who went on major scoring runs in all three sets.
No. 9 San Clemente swept South Region No. 21 San Juan Hills behind seven kills from 6-6 Jr. OH Marcus Kosolcharoen and four blocks from Jettie Presho, a 6-1 Jr. setter.
No. 18 Sanger needed four sets to dispatch Central Region No. 9 Clovis West. Sanger coach Scott Okada called it “a good team win.” Outside hitters Trent Navo and Seth Dillon combined for 25 kills and six blocks for the Apaches. Junior middle Cody Coles added 12 kills and a block.
No. 20 Bishop O’Dowd swept Alameda for the second time this season.
No. 21 Saint Francis of Mountain View played very well in sweeping No. 23 Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep, a second straight loss for the Fighting Irish after starting the season with 17 straight in-state wins. Junior RS Daniel DeVine, a recent Pepperdine commit, had 18 kills to lead the victorious Lancers.
No. 22 Valley Christian of San Jose needed a rally to edge Central Region No. 7 Archbishop Mitty in five, 17-15 in the last. Tyler Alden was the key player taking the big swings down the stretch for Valley Christian. Will Dryden had 24 kills and hit .556 as an outside and Ryan Barnes collected 48 assists in the loss for Mitty, which won the first and third sets.
No. 12 San Marcos of Santa Barbara and No. 19 Beckman also won. No. 7 Tesoro was scheduled against Aliso Niguel, but no result was reported by press time.
Lastly, Santa Barbara knocked off No. 25 Dos Pueblos in four sets. Will Harman had 22 kills and Raglan Kear contributed 21 with seven aces in the Dons’ win over their local rivals.
State top 25…a closer look
The first top 25 CIF State rankings, called “The List,” both statewide and in three separate Regions, were published yesterday and can be found here -- https://cifstate.org/sports/boys_volleyball/notebook/list. In this section, we take a brief look at the teams making up the state’s current top 25.
No. 1 Mira Costa has a deep, highly-skilled roster led by 6-4 senior OH Victor Loiola that will get deeper when Loyola transfer Thatcher Fahlbusch, a 6-5 junior OH, is eligible to play. The Mustangs also boast two tremendous defenders in Zach Chapin and Johnny Dykstra, 6-6 junior pin Cooper Keane, a USC recruit; 6-4 MB Akeaa Galeon, 6-5 MB Alex Heins, both juniors; and 6-4 freshman pin Mateo Fuerbringer, a future star with volleyball DNA. Now imagine how good the Mustangs might have been had 6-8 setter Tread Rosenthal not graduated a year early to set AVCA No. 1 Hawaii…
No. 2 Torrey Pines won 31 matches and placed third in the San Diego Section’s Open Division last year. OH Christian Connell, a four-year starter on the outside; leads the Falcons along with sophomore pin Declan Flanagan, MB Kianoush Mohebbi, S Brandon Pho, and libero David Quinones.
No. 3 Newport Harbor graduated two great outsides, its starting setter and a middle off of last year’s 36-3 teams, but the Sailors are strong again with Riggs Guy, moving to outside after two years starting on the right; leading the way. Others to watch include first-year starting setter Grayson Springborn, 6-2 RS Jack Von Der Ahe, libero Walker Vaicek, and MB Jack Berry, all seniors. The Sailors also have two new 6-5 pins, senior Chandler Swanson and junior Wyatt Nichols, who should contribute greatly for Newport, which should contend for the Southern Section title in Division 1.
No. 4 Huntington Beach has a veteran quarterback in senior setter Jake Pazanti and a cohesive squad. Look for Pazanti to swing as well, as the Oilers have another very talented setter in 6-4 junior Kai Gan. Two seniors, OH Bennett Tchaikovsky and 6-5 RS Aidan Dubno; and two juniors, MB Nick Ganier and libero Aiden Atencio, are returning starters; and coach Craig Pazanti also has young talents in 6-5 freshman middle Logan Hutnick and sophomore outsides Colin Choi and Reece Rosen. “We are a true team,” Coach Pazanti said. “We will rely on production from all to be successful.”
No. 5 Loyola graduated three off of its national championship team but returns UCLA signee Sean Kelly, a 6-7 OH considered the nation’s best player. The Cubs also bring back setter Parker Schloss and 6-7 sophomore OH Blake Fahlbusch, and have a cadre of others prepared to contribute, including 6-4 pins Emmett Martin and Simon Capps and middles Kai Klein and Hugh Vandeweghe, the latter of whom stands 6-6.
No. 6 Corona del Mar started as No. 1 in the AVCA/USA Today national top 25, despite graduating 10 seniors, including 6-9 RS George Bruening; off of last year’s roster. OH Sterling Foley is an outstanding talent for the Sea Kings, which also has a terrific 6-5 setter in Ryan Gant and standout junior libero in Brogan Glenn.
No. 7 Tesoro boasts one of the nation’s best in 6-8 Stanford-bound Mana Carreira and has a strong senior setter in Henry Utterback.
No. 8 Edison of Huntington Beach returns almost its entire starting lineup from last year’s team, including senior OH/MB Ben Winkokur.
No. 9 San Clemente had a tough 2023 season, going just 18-19, but the Tritons have bounced back strong this season with wins already over Newport Harbor, Tesoro, Mater Dei, Carlsbad, Clovis East, and Beckman (twice). The team has two Stanford commits in senior libero/OH Kai Schmitt and 6-5 junior OH Jack Loper, 6-6 senior Will Whidden in the middle, and 6-5 junior Marcus Kosolcharoen on the right side. This is a physical team that can stand toe-to-toe with anyone but needs improved ball control to be considered a threat to win CIF.
No. 10 Mater Dei won 30 matches last year. The defending Trinity League champions graduated two but return a ton with 6-8 senior middle Tyler Robinson, 6-3 senior OH Eli McGhee, senior libero Matt Wheels, senior outside Owen Keely, and senior MB Colin Such. Sophomore OH Ben Smith, a transfer from St. John Bosco, is a promising newcomer for a team whose middles and defense will be the team’s focal points.
No. 11 Redondo Union will be paced by OH Drew Blair and RS Luke Goldman. The Sea Hawks also will rely on a very strong JV team from last year.
Pins Mason Rice and Jack Wilson are go-to hitters for No. 12 San Marcos of Santa Barbara.
USC signee is a key pin hitter for No. 13 Servite. The Friars also senior middle Cooper Truong, senior OH/L Quinn Rosenkranz, and junior MB/RS Quinten Ryan back. Servite graduated no starters off of last year’s team and expects to battle Mater Dei for the Trinity League title.
No. 14 Del Norte had a terrific showing at Best of the West, which included extending Servite to three sets. The Nighthawks, 19-17 last season, graduated their best-ever setter Dylan McGee and two other starters, but return big hitters Will Bartlett and Andrew McKinnon, both 6-5; and got a huge transfer from Utah in 6-5 senior Ike Vernon, who has three DI offers currently.
No. 15 Harker won the Central Coast Section title in Div. 2 last year and only graduated its libero.
No. 16 Cathedral Catholic graduated its left sides off of its back-to-back SDS Open championship teams, which are massive losses. 6-9 Ryan Enos and his 7-2 brother Matt Enos are back to patrol the middle for the Dons, who also return JT Hansen and Alex Engels.
No. 17 Clovis East, the best in the Central Section last year, will lean on RS Gurshab Singh and OH Simrartveer Sumal to come close to last year’s 41-win total.
No. 18 Sanger was 41-8 last year and returns high-volume outside hitters Trent Navo and Seth Dillon.
No. 19 Beckman was 29-7 a year ago, but the Patriots graduated four players about whom coach Darin McBain said were among “the top 15-20 players the program has ever had.” There is going to be a drop off, but not as much as outsiders may think. Beckman will rely on returning underclass starters Luke Morison (6-5 Jr. RS) and Gavin Looney (6-2 Soph. OH) plus other younger players like sophomore setter Josiah Suhr, junior middle Jack Frame, and freshman libero Robert Linker. Morison will be the focal point of a team that should win its league and perhaps a CIF title in Div. 2.
No. 20 Bishop O’Dowd will be led by OH Cameron Kosty, son of the Stanford men’s coach.
No. 21 Saint Francis of Mountain View has RS Daniel DeVine playing at a high level.
No. 22 Valley Christian of San Jose returns all of its key players, including high-energy outside Tyler Alden.
No. 23 Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep was 30-13 a year ago and graduated two. The Fighting Irish will be young, but there is talent in abundance led by leaping OH Ethan Arguello, big-blocking pin Callum McArthur, quick setter Kowie Agana, and Swiss Army Knife junior Sloan Dobson, a three-year starter.
No. 24 Fountain Valley is an athletic team that has started 13-2 in 2024.
No. 25 Dos Pueblos has formidable middles in Noah Grant and Nick Schultz-Clifford and a Division I OH in Micah Goss, who is currently injured.