The Sea Queens girls varsity volleyball team lost to Redlands in three games for their last game of the year in the Southern Section State Finals. The girls placed second best in Southern California.

The first game flew by fast for Redlands as they defeated the Sea Queens with a final score of 25 to 18. Junior Morgan Boukather gained many points for the girls by hitting many kills set by senior Madie Smith. The girls almost caught up  towards the end of the game with a serving streak served by Sydney Brombal.

“Sydney almost served us to victory! We were so close,” said junior Megan Griffin.

The second game was a challenge for the Sea Queens, and they almost pulled their struggles out with a win. The girls didn’t perform their best as Redlands hit many kills against the Sea Queens. Junior Hailey Senske had numerous digs as well as many kills hit by senior Amanda Nickel which saved many points for the girls, but it wasn’t enough to win the game.

“Amanda was hitting really well! It’s too bad that was her last game,” said junior Riley Senske who got pulled up to varsity for CIF.

The third and final game was not a pleasant sight for the Sea Queens. Although the score was much closer to a win than the first two games, the girls could not follow through. Seniors Bryn Hastings, Sara Folks, Amanda Nickel, Sydney Brombal, and Madie Smith had an outstanding year of volleyball for the Sea Queens on varsity, and their whole team will miss them dearly.

“I love all the seniors so much and I am going to miss them! Without them, we would not have been able to get this far, and they had a great year,” said Mary McKennon.

The Sea Queens Girl’s Varsity Volleyball Team is used to being second best. The 2008 CIF Finals, 2008 Southern Section State Finals, 2009 Queen of the Court Tournament, 2009 Dave Mohs Memorial Tournament, the Battle of the Bay and the 2009 CIF Finals are examples of that. However, the Sea Queens have one last shot at retribution this season in the form of the Southern Section State Finals.

The Sea Queens won Round 1 of the State Finals tournament, and if they win Round 2, then will play in the Southern Section State Finals for the second time.

“I’m sick of coming in second. This is our chance to be first,” said junior middle-blocker Claire Ham.

If the Sea Queens do make it to the finals, then they also face a different form of potential redemption. The girls would play the Redlands East Valley Wildcats, the same team that has beaten the Sea Queens in the 2008 CIF and Southern Section State Finals as well as in the 2009 CIF Finals.

However, in the Queen of the Court Tournament held in September of this year, the Sea Queens beat the Wildcats in the Quarterfinals 25-23, 22-25, 15-11.

“We’re better this year. Even though we’ve lost to them more than we’ve beaten them, it doesn’t mean that we can’t beat them again,” said senior setter and captain Madie Smith.

The Sea Queens have been preparing for this match since the beginning of their season.

“We’ve set winning State as one of our long term goals at the very beginning of the season. This game is what we’ve been working for since the summer,” said Smith.

Round 2 of the State Tournament will take place Saturday, November 28, and the Southern Section State Finals will take place Tuesday, December 1st.

The Sea Queens girls varsity volleyball team beat South Torrance in their third CIF game, and the Semi-finals of CIF. The girls beat South Torrance in three straight games to win the semi-finals.

The first game was a breeze for the Sea Queens with a final score of 25 to 16. Senior Madie Smith won the game for the girls with all of her assists, with countless kills hit by juniors Hailey Senske and Morgan Boukather.

“We all really worked together to win the first game,” said freshman Grace Kennedy who was moved from the junior varsity team for CIF.

With all of CdM’s teamwork, the Sea Queens won the second game. Although it was more of a challenge for the girls, they worked through their struggles and won the game. With several digs dug by juniors Katelyn Baker and Megan Griffin, the game was won.

The crowd went wild as CdM won the semi-finals by defeating South Torrance in the third and final game of the match. With a final score of 25 to 21, the Sea Queens are off to the CIF finals!

“I am so thrilled that we won, and I can’t wait for the finals! It would be amazing if we won,” said senior Sydney Brombal.

Support the Sea Queens at the CIF finals this Saturday at Cyprus College.

The CdM girls varsity volleyball team wins their first CIF against Arcadia High School in three straight games.

The Sea Queens creamed Arcadia in the first game with a final score of 25 to 8. With several kills hit by junior Morgan Boukather and senior Sydney Brombal, Arcadia had no chance of beating CdM.

“We played so well. The game went by so fast because we were all having so much fun,” said senior middle blocker Amanda Nickel.

The second game of the match was a bit of a struggle for CdM, but they shook it all off with a win. Junior Katelyn Baker saved the game with numerous digs and assists for the Sea Queens.

The third and final game of the match was the biggest challenge for the girls, but with all of their teamwork, they managed to win the game. At the start of the game the girls lacked intensity and collaboration, but as the score became close, the girls attacked. With various kills, freshman Grace Kennedy and sophomore Mary McKennon finished the match.

“Grace Kennedy and Kelsey Humphrey’s are the new freshman on the team and they are so good,” said Megan Griffin.

CdM’s next CIF game is on Saturday, November 14.

The gym was crowded as the seniors on the CdM volleyball team walked through a column of balloons. It was senior night and the League Championships as the CdM Sea Queens faced the Beckman Patriots. In three straight games, the girls beat Beckman and were crowned number one in the league.

Seniors Madie Smith, Sydney Brombal, Sara Folks, Amanda Nickel, and Bryn Hastings were all honored by being announced to the crowd as they walked through a parade of balloons with their parents. As the crowd went wild for the seniors, the Sea Queens were ready to defeat Beckman.

The first game was won quickly and easily for the girls. With all the seniors working together throughout each point, they were unbeatable. Seniors Hastings and Folks had various digs and passes as well as many kills hit by senior Brombal and junior Hailey Senske.

“All of the seniors played so well together! they were on fire,” said Megan Griffin.

The second game  was a breeze for the Sea Queens. They got a vast lead in the beginning with the help from juniors Morgan Boukather and Catherine Sullivan with numerous kills and digs.

The last game of the match was won with much more difficulty than the first two. This third game determined if the girls would be League Champions. With the assistance from each and every player on the court, the Sea Queens managed to conquer Beckman with a final score of 25 to 18. 

The CdM girls varsity volleyball team is now number one in the league. They remained undefeated, and have won ten games overall with no losses. 

“I am thrilled that we are now the champions! I can’t wait for the Battle of the Bay because I know it’s going to be a challenging game,” said junior Katelyn Baker.

Come and support the girls varsity volleyball team on Friday, November 6 at Newport Harbor for the Battle of the Bay.

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.

The Sea Queens girls varsity volleyball team retained their winning streak in their league by beating University for the second time. CdM won in three straight games to finish off the match.

The girls won their first game without difficulty. With countless kills hit by junior Morgan Boukather and senior Sydney Brombal, they were unstoppable. 

“The game went by really quickly because we were having so much fun! I’m thrilled we won,” said junior Megan Griffin.

With junior Hailey Senske having the most kills of the night, CdM won the second game with ease. With senior Madie Smith’s sets and junior Katelyn Baker’s digs, the Sea Queens had no problem winning the game.

The third game of the match was won with all of the girls collaboration. Juniors Catherine Sullivan and Baker saved the Sea Queens from losing the close game with several saves and digs, along with kills and assists from Senske and Smith.

“The match was really exciting, and hopefully this energy is brought to our Santa Barbara tournament this weekend,” said Mary McKennon.

The Sea Queens play Newport Harbor next Thursday at Newport Harbor for the Battle of the Bays.

The CdM girls varsity volleyball team beat Laguna Hills on Thursday. The Sea Queens blew the Eagles away by winning three straight games to win the match.

“It felt really good to win all three games! It was so exciting,” said junior Katelyn Baker.

The first game was a challenge for the Sea Queens, but they pulled their struggles out with a win. The girls were saved with multiple digs by Baker and several sets by senior Madie Smith to keep the lead throughout the game. The girls won with a final score of 23 to 25.

The Sea Queens won the second game with much less difficulty than the first. With numerous kills hit by Hailey Senske and Morgan Boukather, the game was completed very quickly with ease.

The girls finished off the match by winning the third game. With all their teamwork, senior Sydney Brombal and junior Claire Ham managed to get kills for the Sea Queens with assists from Smith. The Sea Queens won their game with simplicity are now fired up for their next match.

In this third game, the Sea Queens beat Laguna Hills 25 to 5.

“We were really excited about the score of the third game! We have been wanting to beat a team where they didn’t get more than five points for a really long time,” said Brombal. 

“I thought we played amazing, and by winning all three of our games, I really think we are fired up to play next week,” said senior Amanda Nickel.

The Sea Queens play Irvine High School next Tuesday at Home.

The Sea Queens dominated the Vaqueros on Thursday. Our CdM girls Varsity volleyball team  won in three straight games against Irvine High School.

The Sea Queens had no trouble winning their first game. Morgan Boukather, Hailey Senske, and Sydney Brombal all contributed with a significant amount of kills to finish off the first game with ease.

“I really felt that our energy from winning the first game really showed in the second,” said junior Morgan Boukather.

The girls won their second game with much more of a challenge than the first. With a final score of 23 to 25,the Vaqueros fought back, but not hard enough to win the second game. Catherine Sullivan had a noteworthy amount digs to save the game for the Sea Queens.

“I was a little nervous about the second game, but I knew that we could win if we worked together as a team, so it was a relief when we did,” said sophomore Mary McKennon.

To start off the third game, multiple hits from Amanda Nickel, Britton Taylor, Hailey Senske, and Sydney Brombal gave CdM an immense lead, with sets from Megan Griffin and Madie Smith. Katelyn Baker and Catherine Sullivan also helped to pave the way for the CdM victory. The Sea Queen’s won their third game with no trouble, adding another win to their track record.

“I’m so happy that every team won! It was a great birthday present for me, and I had a blast,” said freshman Delaney Pouch.

The Sea Queens play University High School at home on Monday, October 12.

Passing by the halls of CdM during 4th period, Catherine Sullivan can be observed as a studious pupil in Ms.Ngo’s AP chem. class helping fellow students, but the girl behind the friendly and sweet nature is much more than just any CdM student. Sullivan has been a fighting force on CdM’s revered varsity girls’ volleyball team since sophomore year and continues to be a versatile and powerful team player.
Sullivan has been playing 7 years, since she was 9, and has continued to dedicate her time to volleyball because “It’s fun and I’m very competitive, no other sport is the same for me.”
Sullivan plays three positions libero, right back and middle-back, libero being her favorite. When asked her favorite part of being on the CdM team she gushes about her team exuding an obvious passion for the sport and speaks “I love my team, When I’m on the court I know I’m not alone and I know these girls have my back.”
When asked about her free time it’s apparent she is dedicated prominently to volleyball and her school work stating, “I don’t really do anything besides school and volleyball… Well I’m also a candy stripper!” Besides being a devoted CdM player, Sullivan also plays for her club team, Laguna Beach Volleyball Club. When asked about her experience there she replied “It’s really laid back and all the girls have fun.”
However, Sullivan’s not all about fun. She’s serious about her expectations of her and her team this year. When asked about her goals for this year’s season she replied “Win CIF, State, and League.”
Sullivan’s also serious about being involved in volleyball in college.
Sullivan said, “I’d love to play in college, on the east coast, yes, on the west coast, no.”
With her long term goals in mind, as well as high expectations of her and her team mates this season, Sullivan ‘s headed on the right track. Sullivan is known to portray good character around CdM, she is a hard worker, constantly has a smile on her face and is ready to face any challenge on and off the court.