On the night of March 16, the Foothill Technology High School (Foothill Tech) boys volleyball team competed for the title of Division 7 California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Champions. In their battle for the crown, the Dragons faced the Oakwood Secondary High Schools Owls in West Hollywood, bringing family and friends to the gymnasium’s bleachers. By the end of the night, the Dragons had secured a 3-0 sweep over the Owls and brought the title of Division 7 CIF Champions home.
To start off the first set, the Owls prepared a steady offensive lineup that gave the Dragons a swift reality check. These attacks either gave Foothill Tech a free point, with most of them being out-of-bounds, or strong kills to the backline. Consistently throughout the game, both teams mostly remained tied up, constantly competing for the lead. It wasn’t until Curren Wiggins ‘26, set up by Royal Knox ‘28, secured a strong cut shot that brought the Dragon’s lead up to 17-15.
Continuous serving and defensive mistakes from both teams kept the Dragons in the lead by two. Their lead was further emphasized through strong hits and blocks from Colton Salles ‘26 and Wiggins. The match reached game-point at 24-22, where Max Benedict ‘28 floated a serve over the net. Defending a strong hit from the Owls, Zach Ohl ‘28’s passed the ball over to Knox who set outside to Styles Haley-Kettler ‘28, securing the kill and the point ending the first set.
In the second set of the Division 7 Finals, the Owls held the first serve of the game. At first, the Owls seemed to have the upper hand, with the first point being an over-pass kill by Oakwood. However, the score 0-1 did not set the tone for the match. With multiple defensive plays from Blake Whitcomb ‘28, assisted by Knox, Haley-Kettler shined at the net, securing multiple hard kills down the line or through the seams of the Oakwood Owls. These points, followed by an ace serve from Benedict, brought the Dragons to a 6-1 lead.
Despite this strong lead, the Owls soon gained their momentum back with seam shots similar to Haley-Kettler and multiple ace serves. The only thing stopping the Owls from controlling the net were blocks from Wiggins and setter dumps by Knox. This eventually resulted in a timeout for Oakwood with the scoreboard reading 10-6.
Following the timeout, the Owls were able to take control once again with an attack landing at the 10 foot line, executed by their ambitious offense. Multiple ace serves and line shots from the Owls brought the score to 13-12, until a double block from Colton Salles ‘27 and Sebastian Saucedo ‘28 shifted the momentum in the Dragons direction. Soon, blocks at the net from Salles, Saucedo and Benedict inhibited the Owls offense, resulting in yet another timeout called by the Owls at 19-14. At the match point of 24-19, a back-and-forth rally occurred with multiple hits and digs alike until Haley-Kettler secured a line kill, ending the set through his offensive power yet again.
“I feel like we got a little bit of a slow start to the season. It just took us a little while to establish our starting lineup and figure out how our team worked best together. Once we were able to get going, the team continued to grow and continued to get better and better, every match, every game. So, the foundation is there. It’s a great group of guys,” head coach Dave Benedict said.
In the final, third set for the championship title, Foothill Tech began with a serve from Knox. However, the Owls strategically placed a set over the net, straight through the Dragons defense. This was matched with a hit off the block from Benedict, bringing the score 1-1. The Dragons and Owls battled intensely, as Oakwood only led by one consecutively throughout the first 15 points of the set.
Ohl and Knox worked in tandem, completing strong defensive plays and sending Haley-Kettler, Salles and Wiggins the opportunity to kill. However, despite strong rallies throughout the game, moments of miscommunication and accident occurred with multiple missed serves and balls remaining un-passed. Frequent occurrences of these events resulted in a timeout for Foothill Tech at 17-18. The Dragons quickly came back from their mistakes after a net call on Oakwood and an ace from Knox. One block from Wiggins after an attempted tip from Oakwood allowed the Dragons to secure the lead at 20-19, and forced the Owls to call a timeout.
Knox continued the match with a float serve after the timeout, but the play fell short as Foothill Tech blocked the Owls and the ball ricocheted out-of-bounds. The Owls then missed their serve, which gave the ball to Whitcomb. This serve allowed Wiggins and Benedict to block Oakwood, resulting in a score of 22-20. The Owls called timeout once again, but the match soon ended with an out-of-bounds hit by Oakwood.
“I think that [this win] will definitely bring a higher morale, that we know that we can get this far, and I feel like we’re gonna miss Curren [Wiggins], but I think that we’re gonna have a good team. We can try and do it again next year,” Haley-Kettler said.
After their 3-0 sweep, the 2026 boys volleyball team became the first team in Foothill Tech history to earn the title of Division 7 boys volleyball CIF champions. To end the night, the plaque confirming their success and a t-shirt for each player was given to the team, as well as the opportunity to play in the CIF State Boys Volleyball Championships. The Dragons will compete on May 19 against the Central East High School Bengals in Fresno, Calif. in round one of the Division 3 CIF State Boys Volleyball Championships.
