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Foothill boys volleyball beats Mission Viejo in playoffs despite injury problems

May 2, 2026

MISSION VIEJO — Is there a dark horse worth riding in the CIF Southern Section boys volleyball playoffs?

Foothill went into an opposing gym on Friday down two starters — and swept the No. 3 seed.

The Knights defeated Mission Viejo, 25-21, 25-19, 25-22, in the second round of the Division 3 playoffs.

They will play host to Servite in the quarterfinals on Wednesday. The Friars swept Santa Barbara in the second round Friday. .

The results could not be any better for Foothill despite the kind of adversity that would have already ended the season of most teams.

“Down two starters, didn’t know what to expect, but everybody stepped up, played huge,” Foothill coach Chris Lee said. “Caden Epperson came in, he was playing mainly back row in the second half of the season, we needed him today. He was awesome on the front row and got some huge blocks. J.J. Barraza stepped up huge at opposite.

“We lost Jonah Van Iersel yesterday. He led the team in kills. Lost Huston Tosh on senior night, he broke his foot. Everyone has been stepping up, it’s been pretty awesome.”

Van Iersel missed the game with a calf strain and is hopeful to return next week.

Luas Cuellar led Foothill with nine kills, while Barraza had seven and Epperson had six.

Foothill seeks its first CIF-SS title during Lee’s nine seasons as coach, and it’s trying to reach its first semifinal since 2021.

Eddie Castellanos had 14 assists and Epperson had 11.

“I think we’ve had a turning point,” Cuellar said. “Winning our previous playoff game, now winning again, gives us motivation to hit the gas pedal and keep it going. We came in here playing strong. We want the mindset of thinking we can beat every team. I don’t see any team being super scary, we can beat every team.”

The match against Mission Viejo turned late in the first game. Tied at 17, Foothill’s Ryan Fujita served six straight points, including an ace to go up 23-17. Cuellar added a kill and a service point to win the game 25-21.

The Knights picked up where they left off in Game 2. They scored the first five points and opened up a 14-5 lead, largely on the strength of Mission Viejo errors early and the play of Epperson and Cuellar at the net.

The closest Mission Viejo could get was 22-17 before Foothill won, 25-19.

The third game started much the same way, with Mission Viejo errors allowing Foothill to score the first four points before the hitting and blocking of Max Chang, Barraza and Ethan Fernandez extended the lead to 8-3.

Working from behind was a detriment all night for the Diablos, who eventually pulled within 19-18. But Cuellar had a kill, Chang found an empty spot on the defense, Epperson hit a winner and Chang stuffed Mission Viejo’s Brady Madland for a 23-18 lead.

Showing some fight, Mission Viejo rallied to within 23-22 behind Madland’s two kills and a kill and block by Juan Escobar. But at 23-22, Foothill’s Fernandez blocked Madland for a 24-22 lead, and Barraza hit the game-winner.

“When you’re playing a good team, you can’t let them go on a five-point run,” Mission Viejo coach Ryan Thurlow said. “We were able to fight back the Mission way, we always do. But when it really came down to the clutch moments in this match, we weren’t able to get it done.”

Madland led the Diablos with 12 kills, and 6-foot-5 freshman Landon Brock had eight kills.

“We never really got our mojo going,” Madland said. “Typical balls we would come up with, we weren’t coming up with. Typical plays we’ve made all year, we weren’t making. We missed five or six serves in the first set, service errors all over. Foothill passed well, they beat us in the middle, and were more sound than we were tonight. It was a disappointing effort, a hard way to lose the season.”

Orange County Register

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Foothill boys volleyball beats Mission Viejo in playoffs despite injury problems

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