Correction: A previous version of this story said the Watsonville boys’ volleyball team last won a league championship in 2016, which is not true. Watsonville won a league championship in 2022.
The historical run for the Watsonville boys’ volleyball team came to a crushing end following a loss to Alisal in the Central Coast Section postseason play-in match on May 8.
Despite capturing the Pacific Coast Athletic League Cypress Division crown with a perfect 14-0 record in league play, the Wildcatz still had to claw their way in for a chance to qualify for the playoffs.
They fell in three sets 25-16, 25-16, 25-18 to the Trojans—third place finishers in the PCAL Gabilan Division, which is two levels above the Cypress.
“We worked so hard not to lose a single game, and be first within our division,” Watsonville senior and team captain Joshua Anaya said. “I think we should at least be considered to get into CCS rather than having to fight a team that’s third, not even the first [place] team in a different division.”
Anaya and his fellow ‘Catz teammates put up a fight for most of the match, yet they were highly outmatched by a more seasoned Alisal squad that competed in the PCAL’s top tier this season.
“The thing that makes it challenging is because a couple of us are young,” Anaya said. “The whole team for Aliso plays club, so it’s just a different tempo, different background to that.”
Watsonville head coach Crystal Cornejo-Perez wasn’t too keen on having to play the Trojans, who had already swept the ‘Catz in three sets on March 11.
“The boys definitely improved over the season, they did much better today,” she said. “I think we could have done better, but I also think it kind of sucks that we got set up with one of the top dogs in the toughest [division]. Just kind of felt they always try to shut the little ones out.”
The ‘Catz finished with a 15-9 overall record, including last week’s CCS play-in loss. It was a dramatic turnaround season for them after they finished with a 5-15 overall record in 2024, and placed fifth in the Mission Division with a 3-9 record in league play.
This year they nearly swept through the Cypress Division by losing just five sets in league play, and en route to the program’s first league title since 2022 and third championship overall.
“I wasn’t expecting much, however, I’m incredibly proud how far we’ve actually come,” Anaya said. “I think it’s a huge accomplishment coming from being a freshman going to CCS, and then finishing it off going to a play-in [match] senior year.”
The closest match for them was a victory over Pajaro Valley in five 25-16, 25-12, 26-28, 22-25, 15-11 on April 28. Anaya had 15 kills and 16 digs that evening, while teammate junior Logan Franc finished with 20 kills and 11 digs.
“Repspectfully, the competition wasn’t as high as I expected,” Cornejo-Perez said. “Other schools were struggling with getting boys’ volleyball, so they had a lot of new players, as well. Luckily we had those experienced players that formed the little ones and taught them.”
However, the ‘Catz did finish 1-8 in non-league play with losses to formidable opponents such as Salians out of the PCAL Gabilan, and Mission Division champion Palma.
Alisal along with Palma each qualified and lost in the CCS playoffs that featured just three divisions: Open Division, D-I and D-II. Each one of those divisions was packed with even more challenging opponents from far and near.
Perhaps it was the lack of experience, and strength of schedule, that caught up to this young group of ‘Catz. But either way, they should have a bright future ahead of them.
“It was rough from the start but it continued to go on, I think we built a family together,” Anaya said. “We were discouraged a little bit, however, each individual has grown so much. Overall, that was the important part of being able to play on this team, being together as one.”
Anaya this season led the ‘Catz with 150 total kills and 43 served aces, and was second on the team with 112 digs, according to statistics on the Monterey Bay Preps website. Franc finished with a team-best 136 digs to go along with 40 aces and 131 kills, finishing just behind Anaya.
“As much as we joke around and everything, sometimes it’s time to be serious,” Anaya said. “However, we still have that mentality of we’re here for fun. We all hang out together, play video games. Just building that bond, knowing that we have each other’s backs.”
Other ‘Catz standouts this season included sophomore Ricardo Ramirez, who led the team with 251 assists, and senior Diego Hidalgo with 170 assists. Teammate senior Andres Cardenas was also a big contributor as he finished with 74 kills, 60 digs and 32 aces for Watsonville.
The rest of the group was made up of rising underclassmen in sophomores Edwin Cornejo and Danny Lopez, and freshmen Kaiden Peña and Khriss Reyes.
“I felt it was a really young, inexperienced team, and I was really surprised with the outcome this year,” Cornejo-Perez said. “I was just gonna go with the flow, see what the season brought us. But the boys really impressed me, and they really took it home.”
