2026 High School Boys Volleyball Preview

First match: Was Feb. 14

Section finals: May 14-16

Defending champions: Carlsbad (Open Division), St. Augustine (Division 1), Clairemont (Division 2), Mater Dei Catholic (Division 3), Fallbrook (Division 4), San Ysidro (Division 5) and Tri-City Christian (Division 5-AA)

Player of the Year: Roman Payne, Carlsbad (now at the University of Hawaii)

Overview: The last three years have seen three different Open Division champions. During each of those title runs, it was clear Cathedral Catholic (’23), Torrey Pines (’24) and Carlsbad (’25) were the best teams in the county. Could an upstart team like Bishop’s or Francis Parker make it four different champions in four years?

Notable: Torrey Pines earned the No. 3 seed in last year’s Open Division playoffs and reached the championship match, losing to a powerful Carlsbad squad. The Falcons are built to make it three consecutive trips to the title match. They’re led by Stanford-bound 6-foot-8 senior outside hitter Declan Flanagan and 6-4 libero Griffin Dieter, one of the best in the country. They also have key senior leadership in the middle with David Kim and at setter/right side with Beckett Ribeiro-Greenbaum. The past three years, the city of Carlsbad has produced a 7-foot middle that has gone on to a top collegiate program — Wes Smith (La Costa Canyon) and Parker Tomkinson (Carlsbad) at USC and Roman Payne (Carlsbad) at Hawaii. The next towering middle out of San Diego is south of Carlsbad at Francis Parker, where 6-11 junior Kevin O’Brien plays. He is part of a junior class that’s one of the county’s best in recent memory. That includes Dieter, who has nearly 700 digs in two years. It also includes the Bishop’s trio of outside Will Denning, middle Logan Yockey and libero/pin Hudson Yockey. Look for Bishop’s, which also has UC San Diego commit Giles Beamer, to be square in the Open Division mix. Carlsbad returns the area’s best setter in Ben Sauerwine, also committed to UCSD. Canyon Crest Academy went 38-0 last season, then graduated its senior core. Mater Dei Catholic followed its Division 3 title by winning a Division 4 state title behind Coach of the Year Marissa Ritchie. San Diego’s topteams will once again be challenged by a plethora of nationally ranked teams at Poway’s Best of the West Tournament at Alliant University from March 6-7.

Players to watch

(in alphabetical order)

Dorin Ayres Jr., Bonita Vista, Sr.

Jamie Bae, Westview, Sr.

Giles Beamer, Bishop’s, Sr.

Ben Blasi, Carlsbad, Sr.

Bennett Brandenburg, La Costa Canyon, Jr.

Ethan Brigger, Francis Parker, Jr.

Broden Corona, Carlsbad, Sr.

Miles Custer, Francis Parker, Sr.

Will Denning, Bishop’s, Jr.

Griffin Dieter, Torrey Pines, Jr.

Legend Esplin, La Costa Canyon, Jr.

Declan Flanagan, Torrey Pines, Sr.

Sean Fleming, Eastlake, Sr.

Hunter Hamilton, Granite Hills, Sr.

Daniel Hornyak, Poway, So.

Collin Hunt, San Marcos, So.

Hugo Hunt, Saint Augustine, So.

David Kim, Torrey Pines, Sr.

Zach Lau, Torrey Pines, Jr.

Logan Lim, Westview, Sr.

Erik May, Mission Bay, Sr.

Vuong Nguyen, Canyon Crest Academy, Sr.

Kevin O’Brien, Francis Parker, Jr.

Noah Pabarcus, St. Augustine, So.

Beckett Ribeiro-Greenbaum, Torrey Pines, Sr.

Ben Sauerwine, Carlsbad, Sr.

Owen Shaw, La Costa Canyon, Sr.

Merrick Swenson, Mission Vista, Sr.

Luca Valdivia, Cathedral Catholic, Sr.

Hudson Yockey, Bishop’s, Jr.

Logan Yockey, Bishop’s, Jr.

— TIM MEEHAN

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