On May 9, the Foothill Technology High School (Foothill Tech) boys volleyball team took on Rialto High School (Rialto) in the fan-filled Ventura College gymnasium. Foothill Tech won 3-0 in the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Semi Finals, securing them a spot in the Championship. This victory has given them the program’s first-ever opportunity to win the Division 7 title.
Rialto started the game with the serve and quickly blocked the Dragon’s hit out of bounds, giving Foothill Tech the first point of the game. Multiple kills by Foothill and missed serves from both sides of the court kept the game close, bringing the score to 10-10. Rialto had a kill, but the Dragons responded shortly with setter Royal Knox ‘28 setting up both Curren Wiggins ‘26 and Styles Haley-Kettler ’28 for momentum-shifting kills, bringing the Dragons to a 12-11 lead. Foothill Tech, with its continued energy, dominated the second half of the first set. To end it, Haley-Kettler secured an ace, followed by a kill from Sebastian Saucedo ‘29, for a 25-22 first set victory.
“The opposing team had played really good defense. So, we had to extend some rallies and kind of really fight through some tough points, but I feel like we did a really good job doing that,” Head Coach David Benedik said.
Kaedon Charanvattanakit ‘26 started off the second set with a serve for the Dragons; however, they had three errors, which gave Rialto a 1-3 lead. After a timeout called by Foothill Tech, both teams kept it close throughout the set. Colton Salles ‘27 had a kill to keep the game tied at 15-15. To push a lead after a long rally, Salles and Max Benedik ‘28 secured a block following a strategic back-row tip from Haley-Kettler. The results of these back-to-back plays were a three-point lead of 18-15 for the Dragons. Foothill Tech continued with strong blocks and kills to keep a safe lead for the rest of the set. In the final point of the set, Rialto had an out-of-bounds hit, giving a 25-18 win to the Dragons.
“I think our offense was really good. We had relatively good communication,” Salles said.
The third and final set ended quicker than expected, with Foothill Tech performing strongly throughout. Kills by Wiggins, Saucedo and Salles gave the Dragons an 8-5 lead over Rialto. However, despite this strong start, Rialto had some scrappy points to cut into the lead and climb back, which kept the game within two points. Zachary Ohl ‘28 had an ace and Rialto had more errors, setting the scoreboard at 14-9. After a timeout called by Rialto, Foothill Tech kept playing to its strengths, keeping a consistent seven-point deficit throughout most of the set. The Dragons won the set 25-16 after a final kill from Salles.
The Dragons will compete in the CIF championship against Oakwood High School on May 16.
