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Capistrano Valley Christian girls volleyball has been on the precipice of greatness for so long, but the Eagles couldn’t get over the championship hump each time they climbed the ladder..
CVCS lost in the CIF-SS Division 9 Final in 2016, dropped the Division 8 Final in 2017 and were runner-up in Division 7 in 2021. The Eagles lost in the semifinals of Division 5 last season, and even the girls’ first foray into the CIF-SS beach volleyball championships ended in a title-game defeat.
However, all of that was put behind CVCS with the cap of a dominant run on Saturday morning, Nov. 4.
Capistrano Valley Christian fought off push after push from El Dorado to sweep a tightly contested CIF-SS Division 4 Final, 26-24, 25-23, 25-21, at Cerritos College for the program’s first CIF-SS championship since 1992.
“We’ve been so close and fell so short so many times,” Eagles senior Kenna Henjum said. “To get here and get it done, all the hard work is paying off. It made all those hours in the weight room and the gym all worth it. We’re such a close team, so it’s like winning with your sisters.”
CVCS (33-5) also qualified for the CIF State Division II playoffs, but the Eagles were swept in the first round on Tuesday, Nov. 7.
The Eagles capped a dominant run through the San Joaquin League, where CVCS did not drop a set in its 12 league matches, and Capistrano Valley Christian lost just one set in its run to the CIF-SS championship.
“It feels amazing,” CVCS senior Camille Solovjev said. “The amount of work we put in since the beginning of July, it was for this moment. All the hard work, dedication, all the practices, everything. We pulled it off.”
Capistrano Valley Christian won its first CIF-SS championship in 1992 in Division V, the fifth of six CIF-SS divisions back then. The Eagles are champions for the second time, with a win in Division 4 after building back up from Division 9 to now.
“We were laughing, because we said, ‘We didn’t do it in D9. We didn’t do it in D7. We missed it in D5. Lost in the beach finals in D2,’ ” CVCS head coach Kelle Bond said. “Just the hard word and sacrifice the girls put in. We had to be that much more intentional and more disciplined, because it was D4.”
Henjum was everywhere for CVCS on Saturday with team-highs in kills (14), digs (24) and aces (4). Solovjev registered 19 digs, and Shauna McDowell led with 16 assists.
