Volleyball Game Preview: Kolbe-Cathedral Cougars vs. Joel Barlow Falcons

Kolbe-Cathedral is 0-7 against Joel Barlow since April of 2021 but things could change on Monday. The Cougars will host the Falcons at 6:00 p.m. Joel Barlow took a loss in their last game and will be looking to turn the tables on Kolbe-Cathedral, who comes in off a win.

On Friday, Kolbe-Cathedral made easy work of Harding and carried off a 3-0 victory. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Cougars.

Not only was the match a shutout, it was a big one: Kolbe-Cathedral took every set by at least 12 points. The final score came out to 25-10, 25-6, 25-13.

Angel Gomez

Digs

04/25/25 @ Harding	15
04/23/25 vs New Milford	16
04/21/25 @ Newtown	26
04/17/25 @ Pomperaug	13
04/15/25 vs Simsbury	17
+ 20 more games

Kolbe-Cathedral's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Angel Gomez, who had 15 digs and two assists, and Tristan Rodriguez-Vargas, who had eight assists and three digs. Gomez is on a roll when it comes to digs, as he's now had ten or more in each of the last 25 games he's played dating back to last season.

Meanwhile, Joel Barlow faced Newtown in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Thursday. The Falcons fell just short of the Nighthawks by a score of 3-2. Give some credit to the fans of both teams: the last four times they've met, the home team has come away the winner.

Joel Barlow took Newtown into a fifth set but they suffered a heartbreaking six-point loss. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 23-25, 25-23, 25-22, 22-25, 15-9.

Joel Barlow's loss ended a three-game streak of away wins and brought them to 5-4. As for Kolbe-Cathedral, the win got them back to even at 5-5.

Kolbe-Cathedral came up short against Joel Barlow in their previous meeting back in April of 2024, falling 3-1. Can the Cougars avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.