CARLSBAD — Francis Parker presents a large presence at the volleyball net with 11 players on its roster standing at least 6 feet tall.
Its starting middle blockers are 6-9 and 6-5.
In theory, that should give Carlsbad trouble. But the 2025 version of Carlsbad isn’t your typical boys volleyball team.
Carlsbad was dominant in the middle, on the pins, in the backcourt and from the service line, resulting in a 25-22, 25-19, 25-16 sweep of visiting Francis Parker in Tuesday’s CIF San Diego Section Open Division semifinals.
Carlsbad (34-2) will play for its third CIF title Saturday at 4 p.m. at Francis Parker against defending Open Division champion Torrey Pines (33-7).
“All the work we’ve put in all season, it feels good to finally be in the finals,” junior setter Ben Sauerwine said. “We need to work on our serve receive because obviously we have the best middles in the nation, and we can’t use our middles without good ing.”
Carlsbad did it in typical fashion, feeding 7-foot middle Roman Payne early and often. The Hawaii-bound Payne finished with a match-high 15 kills and three stuff blocks.
Harvard commit Oliver Doty was dominant as well, with eight kills and a pair of stuff blocks.
When they weren’t getting set, Payne and Doty were pulling the Francis Parker middles with them, which allowed Sauerwine to throw it to either Derek Bashford (six kills) and Broden Corona on the left side or an often no-block Nate Hedgecock (five kills) on the right.
“We were trying to run sets on the net and confuse them a bit,” Doty said. “It spread the offense and made them worried about more options. It became a lot easier to score.”
Francis Parker (23-12) should see its season continue in next week’s state playoffs. While its seeding is unknown, what’s clear is the coach Q Chambers’ squad will put up a battle no matter the opponent, no matter the score.
“What we’re focused on is playing our brand of volleyball, which is working hard every single point,” said Chambers, who got eight kills from Miles Custer and six kills from Kevin O’Brien. “Regardless if we’re tied 10 times or losing by 10 points, the boys are working hard and doing their best to play their best volleyball.”
To say the teams were evenly matched to start would be an understatement. The first set featured 10 ties, the last of which came at 22-all when Payne netted. He made up for it on the next play with a stuff block, Bashford got a kill on a tip in transition on the next play, then Sauerwine had a stuff block on set point for the 25-22 win.
It showed Carlsbad’s impressive ability to close out sets even when they’re not at their best.
“I don’t feel like we found our rhythm until the second half of the second game,” Carlsbad coach Annette Bashford said. “It does say a lot that we can sideout, sideout, sideout and fight, even when they’re off. We homed in on our ing. Our out-of-system pin hitting got tightened up with Derek and Broden (Corona). Our ing enabled us to go to the middle.”
The teams played evenly halfway through the second set with neither team taking more than a two-point lead until Carlsbad went up 15-12. That, however, started a 5-0 run. It also started a streak where Bashford scored five of Carlsbad’s next six points with five kills and a stuff block. Payne’s kill from the middle secured the set.
After an Abisai Martinez ace to start the third set, Carlsbad got on the board with Hedgecock getting a kill on the right side and following that up with a pair of aces. Before the visitors could blink, Corona and Doty combined on a block for a 14-7 lead. Francis Parker closed it to 19-15 on Ronit Khushu’s kill, but Doty, Bashford, Hedgecock and Corona took over.
Bashford secured match point with an ace.
“We’re pretty resilient,” Doty said. “We obviously have the talent to beat any team in San Diego. It’s all about our headspace. We were able to bring it back and not worry about what’s going on on the other side of the net.”
The last time Carlsbad won a CIF title was 2016. To accomplish a goal the Lancers talk about consistently in their twice-weekly team dinners, they need to do more than just play up to their capabilities.
Team-first volleyball for the team that’s only loss this season is to the No. 1 team in the nation in Mira Costa.
“I have some days to manage keeping them focused and not overworked,” Annette Bashford said. “The perfect balance of staying fresh and not overworked. Rest management is going to come into play. Keeping them up. Keeping them together. And focused on that Saturday match.”
