No. 12 Torrey Pines beats No. 13 Cathedral Catholic to win 2025 Volleypalooza title

AUSTIN, Texas — No. 12 Torrey Pines (San Diego, Calif.) and No. 11 Cathedral Catholic (San Diego, Calif.) renewed their San Diego Section rivalry Saturday in Texas in the final of the Volleypalooza tournament. Torrey Pines grabbed the victory in the MaxPreps Top 25 showdown and first round of what is sure to be a season-long battle for section and perhaps SoCal supremacy with a 20-25, 26-24, 25-21 win.

The victory snapped a nine-match losing skid for the Falcons against the Dons dating back to 2019. Cathedral Catholic, the reigning Open Division state champion, has beaten Torrey Pines in the San Diego Section Open final for the past four seasons.

Penn State-bound Finley Krystkowiak was named tournament MVP and had eight kills in the title match after dominating in pool and bracket play. Junior libero Lila Green (defender), junior setter Emery Gonzales (setter) and junior hitter Jaycee Mack also made the all-tournament squad. Sophomore Parker Herrin also made an impact in the championship match with five kills.

For the Dons, Madyson McCarthy was named top hitter, Allison Dzieciuch was named best blocker and Kensley Hennessy, Olivia Greenwood and freshman Baylee Wilson made the all-tourney team. After winning the first set 25-20, Cathedral Catholic looked on the verge of putting the match away in straight sets after going up 23-21 on a Falcons' hitting error. But coach Brennan Dean called time and righted the ship as Torrey Pines notched two quick points on back-to-back blocks by sophomore middle Dylan Kupiec. The Falcons got two straight kills to go up 25-24 before a Dons hitting error knotted the match at 1 set apiece.

"The second set we should have put them away, we had them. They literally came back from the dead," Cathedral Catholic coach Juliana Conn said. "So that's a learning experience. You cannot have a good team down and let them breathe because they will come back to life."

And Torrey Pines did, racing out to a 5-0 lead before Cathedral Catholic clawed back and took a 14-13 lead on a Greenwood kill. The Falcons, however, would wrestle the lead back and begin to sense victory especially after a Krystkowiak kill hit McCarthy in the face forcing her out of the lineup.

"We love being in that type of match with really good opponents and Cathedral is chock full of just fantastic talent," Dean said. "We knew that we were going to have to find a way to beat them and we're gonna probably see them a couple more times this year so it's good for us to get the first one."

Torrey Pines hosts Cathedral Catholic on Sept. 10 and both will be at mid-September's Durango Fall Classic.

The Dons raced through the first two days of the 68-team tournament going 6-0 and dropping only one set, to Eagle Mountain.

The Falcons, the tournament's two-seed, didn't drop a set in the first two days, but were pushed in the semifinals by a scrappy and tall Highland Park squad. Torrey battled for a 32-30 second-set victory in a game that see-sawed throughout.

All-tournament team

MVP — Finley Krystkowiak, Torrey Pines

Best hitter — Madyson McCarthy, Cathedral Catholic

Best defender — Lila Green, Torrey Pines

Best blocker — Allison Dzieciuch, Cathedral Catholic

Best setter — Emery Gonzales, Torrey Pines

Kennsley Hennessy, Cathedral Catholic

Olivia Greenwood, Cathedral Catholic

Baylee Wilson, Cathedral Catholic

Jaycee Mack, Torrey Pines

Da'Mya Mann, Harlan (San Antonio, Texas)

Nailah Randle, Harlan

Gentry Barker, Lake Travis (Austin, Texas)

Cali Reece, Grand Oaks (Spring, Texas)

Halle Thompson, Grand Oaks

Campbell Sheffield, Allen (exas)

Maya Ogbogu, Allen

Sarah Floyd, Highland Park (Dallas, Texas)

Gigi Whann, Highland Park

Brooklyn Bailey, Highland Park

Giselle Gandara, Eastlake (El Paso, Texas)

Jaylyn Tuiasosopo, O'Connor (Helotes, Texas)

Camille Presley, Austin (Texas)

Joy Udoye, Cedar Park (Texas)

25-15, 25-20

25-18, 25-19

25-22, 25-20

25-12, 25-19

20-25, 25-20, 25-21

25-18, 23-25, 25-21

25-22, 25-21

25-18, 25-14

20-25, 26-24, 25-21