On Halloween weekend, the Sea Queens Varsity Volleyball team was not doing what most high school girls were. Instead of picking out costumes, the Sea Queens were competing against some of the best teams in California in the Tournament of Champions, held in Santa Barbara.

“It was kind of a bummer that the tournament was over Halloween weekend, but us doing so well pretty much made up for it,” said senior middle blocker and co-captian Amanda Nickel.

The Sea Queens missed school on Friday to play in the first day of the tournament. Their first match was against Santa Barbara High School. The match was a 5 game thriller, where CdM barely emerged as the victor. Santa Barbara had home court advantage and started out strong, winning the first two games 25-23 and 26-24. However, CdM fought back and won the next three games 23-25, 25-27, and 9-15. Madie Smith and Claire Ham helped lead their team to victory with a large number of assists and kills, respectively.

“I’m really proud of the way we played,” said senior setter and co-captain Madie Smith, “and it was a great start to the tournament.”

CdM’s next opponent in the tournament was against the number 1 ranked team in the country, Archbishop Mitty. The Sea Queens lost in three, losing 25-19, 25-13, 25-13.

“They were a tall team, but they were also good defensively. We worked hard, and that’s all that matters,” said coach Darryl Gan of the match.

Junior middle blocker Claire Ham had a similar view to the game as her coach.

“I think they were just better than us. I mean, they are the number 1 team in the country!” said Ham.

On the second and final day of the tournament, CdM played Cathedral Catholic High School for the first match of the day, winning 25-15, 25-19, and 25-23. Digs by Katelyn Baker and kills by Morgan Boukather helped make this win possible.

CdM’s final match of the tournament was against Harvard Westlake High School.

“This wasn’t the first time we played Harvard Westlake. We beat them in Hawaii last year,” said Ham.

History repeated itself as the Sea Queens won their final match of the tournament in 25-16, 25-19, and 25-23.

“I’m really happy with how we did in the tournament. The only team we lost to was the team that won the whole tournament, so I’d say that’s pretty good,” said Smith.

The Sea Queens play their rivals across the Bay, the Sailors, this Friday, November 6, at Newport Harbor High School.