Loyola of LA 2024 VolleyballMag Boys High School Team of the Year

It never hurts to have the national player of the year on your team.

But for Loyola High School of Los Angeles, Sean Kelly, who went to UCLA, wasn’t the only reason for success.

“They bought into the culture and the discipline that it took to do what we did,” Cubs coach Michael Boehle said. “They bought into the concept of playing together and trusting each other. They bought into the Loyola way. It was pretty standard from the beginning. Last year they got a taste, a little bit more than a taste. Sean and I met and he said to me, ‘Let’s get another one.’ Guys bought into their roles. We had great players and people, but we had to get everybody to buy in. That was the biggest thing.”

Loyola was dominant, losing just one match all season to Mater Dei (in three sets) at the Best of the West tournament. The Cubs (32-1-1) then went on a 24-match winning streak, dropping just six sets to not only win their first California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section Division I title since 2016, but also their second straight CIF SoCal Division I regional title (Loyola lost to Newport Harbor in the 2022 SoCal finals).

Now add to that the honor of the Cubs being named the best boys high school team of 2024 by VolleyballMag for the second year in a row.

“Losing only six sets on that winning streak showed how much the kids wanted it,” Boehle said. “We played a lot of good teams. We beat Mira Costa three times (the last two times for the SS and SoCal titles) and played Corona del Mar (three wins) and Newport Harbor and beat an unbelievable Huntington Beach team (5-set win to open SS pool play). We went on a roll and beat all the top teams.”

In the two CIF postseason tournaments, Loyola went 7-0, losing a total of three sets.

“We were so strong this year for a lot of reasons,” said Cubs senior setter Parker Schloss. “First of all, most of the guys on the team played together in the club or in previous years, which made the connection on the court a lot easier and more effortless, but I also think we were so strong because of our connection and bond that we had off the court. We had a really tight team and that played a big part in competing and ultimately winning the natty (national championship).”

While the 6-7 Kelly certainly made headlines, the Cubs were able to thrive thanks to key contributions from others. For example, Loyola’s two middle blockers, senior Hugh Vandeweghe (nephew of NBA great Kiki Vandeweghe) and junior Kai Kline (brother of recent Loyola alumnus Dillon Kline, who had 351 kills in his freshman year at USC), were transplants in their early years on the team.

All-American efforts from Schloss and senior outside Emmett Martin (departing for UC Santa Barbara) helped, as did clutch play from freshman libero Johnny Gosser, who stepped in when Loyola’s regular libero, sophomore Matt Kelly (Sean Kelly’s brother), was injured earlier in the season (Kelly returned late in the season). Junior outside hitter Simon Capps also shone, one of four Cubs to earn All-CIF Southern Section Division I honors (along with Kelly, Schloss and Martin). Schloss and Kelly shared Mission League Player of the Year honors.

“For what we put them through and everything we taught them, the two basketball players were unbelievable,” said Boehle, who was inducted into the Southern California Indoor Volleyball Hall of Fame. “And then a guy like Parker, he was our quarterback. I don’t know what we would have done without him. He was absolutely invaluable with his play and his leadership. Overall, when you put all the pieces together, the buy-in was tremendous.”

Martin agreed with Schloss’ assessment of why everything went the way it did this season.

“The team was strong because we’ve known each other for most of our lives,” he said. “Everyone was really into it. Our team wasn’t just the six guys who played. Everyone played a crucial role in winning the championship, the bench or the manager, everyone contributed.”

Loyola has now won seven CIF Southern Section titles under Boehle, the most in CIF history (13 total in program history, also a state record), six state (region) titles and four national titles. Boehle was also honored as coach of the year by the American Volleyball Coaches Association. Loyola won the last SoCal region title — starting next year, the CIF will move to a single tournament to determine the state champion, moving away from the Southern and Northern tournament formats.

“Everyone stepped up and played a huge role in our win,” said Kelly, a two-time CIF Southern Section Division I Player of the Year (the first Loyola player to accomplish that feat since 1986).

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