William Dryden stars as Archbishop Mitty goes up early, holds on to win first CCS title in 12 years over St. Francis

SAN JOSE In baseball a triple-digit fastball can be almost unhittable at times In volleyball the analog is when a hitter gets so hot it almost doesn t matter what the opposing block does Archbishop Mitty s William Dryden approached that level of excellence on Saturday during the CCS Open Division championship championship at Harker Facing off against St Francis in the title match the Monarchs called upon Dryden times to finish off a point And he came through times keying Mitty s early two-set lead After the Lancers responded with a tight win in set three the fourth set was anyone s meeting Mitty came through in extra points finishing off a - win - - - - with a narrow achievement in the fourth set Archbishop Mitty s E J Tejano is hoisted to his feet after the Monarchs defeated St Francis in the CCS Open Division Volleyball Championship at the Harker School in San Jose Calif Saturday May Karl Mondon Bay Area News Group The aftermath was validation for the Monarchs who had beaten every group they faced in the Open bracket at least once this year Still Mitty had to go out and do it again with the pressure on It did and now the Monarchs have their first boys volleyball section title since This whole season we ve been dominant disclosed Dryden who is committed to UC Santa Barbara We ve beaten every crew We ve beaten St Francis three times so it just felt how it should be And then in that third set we kind of crumbled a little bit But we got back on it Mitty - has sustained success this season despite the departure of coach Lacey Gera to maternity leave midseason Assistant coach Gregg Gallegos stepped in to run the Monarchs practices and games and they haven t missed a beat Archbishop Mitty s Oscar Klement spikes against St Francis in the CCS Open Division Volleyball Championship at the Harker School in San Jose Calif Saturday May Karl Mondon Bay Area News Group We ve been peaking at the right time Gallegos noted That s for sure We re playing really good volleyball right now Excited for NorCals but it s been a great season so far Mitty is a powerhouse in seemingly just about every sport but it had been over a decade since the Monarchs had even made a CCS final in boys volleyball Last year Mitty lost - to Santa Cruz in the Open semifinals This year s group wasn t going to be denied We have a very majority of of the time very mature group of guys so they make it easy on me and they re just totally invested Gallegos commented They know that this season can be really special They work super hard and they totally deserve everything Archbishop Mitty s Oscar Klement celebrates with teammates the final point in a - mastery over St Francis in the CCS Open Division Volleyball Championship at the Harker School in San Jose Calif Saturday May Karl Mondon Bay Area News Group Junior Oscar Klement played a supplementary role for the Monarchs finishing kills with an efficient hitting average Despite Dryden s starring role it was a true squad effort for Mitty a talented group on a mission to forge a new legacy We know that we can go out and beat literally any gang no matter what Dryden announced The end of the third set we kind of just folded We got a little too settled and that was our issue Once we realized that we authentically had to keep going keep trying hard we got em St Francis - is a proud campaign that has made three of the four Open finals contested winning the title in The Lancers will still be a force to reckon with in the CIF NorCal tournament but Mitty was a cut above on Saturday I love those kind of WCAL championship battles St Francis coach Jonah Carson stated Those are great You ve got to problem-solve their setter and their really good outside hitter and there s no one method for guys that are that good So we kept working through different options and things we thought were going to work as the match went on Archbishop Mitty s Oscar Klement tips the ball over St Francis defenders Timothy Cho and Carson Sias in the CCS Open Division Volleyball Championship at the Harker School in San Jose Calif Saturday May Karl Mondon Bay Area News Group The Lancers will be spoken for in the NorCals but Mitty has the look of the odds-on favorite Dryden is a big reason for that When he s on there isn t much the other unit can do to stop him Related Articles CIF state swimming Foothill star breaks national record Valley Christian junior has big day Prep roundup Valley Christian rallies to beat No St Francis share WCAL softball title Prep roundup Livermore wins EBAL softball title NCS crowns champions in lacrosse boys volleyball NCS Champs Northgate tops Amador Valley to complete dominant run through section playoffs Bay Area News Group girls athlete of the week Jazzy Maske Mills softball They played really really clean in the first two sets Carson commented I felt like we made them a little uncomfortable later on But when Will s on fire it s tough Mitty is excited to now have the opportunity to chase down a spot in the first-ever CIF boys volleyball state championship competition which will conclude the season by matching up the winners of the NorCal and SoCal regional tournaments Last year was a great year and we knew that this year could be even more special Gallegos mentioned We could supposedly go a little bit further And the fact that there s a state championship this year for the first time ever that s the new peak that we want to get to And so that s the goal I expect a lot more volleyball I don t want our season to end yet Archbishop Mitty poses with their CCS Open Division Volleyball Championship trophy after defeating St Francis at the Harker School in San Jose Calif Saturday May Karl Mondon Bay Area News Group Archbishop Mitty dogpiles after defeating St Francis - in the CCS Open Division Volleyball Championship at the Harker School in San Jose Calif Saturday May Karl Mondon Bay Area News Group Archbishop Mitty s Ryan Barnes rises up to block a spike by St Francis Andrija Ciric in the CCS Open Division Volleyball Championship at the Harker School in San Jose Calif Saturday May Karl Mondon Bay Area News Group Archbishop Mitty s Niklas Jakobskrueger and William Dryden rise up to block against St Francis Blake Shepard in the CCS Open Division Volleyball Championship at the Harker School in San Jose Calif Saturday May Karl Mondon Bay Area News Group