Eight local girls’ volleyball teams make CIF playoffs

Anticipation of the bracket can turn coaches and players into nervous wrecks.

Leading up to Thursday afternoon’s release of the CIF Southern Section girls’ volleyball playoff pairings, Corona del Mar High coach Steve Astor had made mention of a couple of observations.

The first was a perception that a new formula has been established for qualifying for the state tournament. He pointed out that after the CIF State Division I bracket was expanded to 16 teams, every quarterfinalist in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 draw made it.

Santa Margarita, Mater Dei and Mira Costa were placed in the Open Division.

The other five Division 1 quarterfinalists from the section were placed in the CIF State Division I draw. As one of the beneficiaries of the expansion, Edison went on to claim the Division I crown over Menlo-Atherton in 2016.

Astor said that the section’s playoffs should work like the state tournament, specifically, the higher-seeded team should have home-court advantage for the duration of the playoffs. He says that second-round matches are always tough, and home-and-away coin flips often play a big hand in how far a team will go.

Two local league champions opened the draws on Thursday afternoon to find out that the quarterfinals will be a tough round to reach. CdM (19-6), which went undefeated in the Pacific Coast League, is in line to face Huntington Beach (24-6), the Sunset League’s top seed.

The Sea Kings host Tesoro (14-11) in the first round on Tuesday, while the Oilers welcome Murrieta Valley (14-10) into their gym. Should the local teams take care of their at-large opponents, they will face each other in the second round on Nov. 2, with one of those chronicled coin flips determining who will be at home.

The Oilers reached the section’s quarterfinals and the Southern California Regional finals, before bowing out against Edison last year.

The reigning Division I state champion Chargers (16-10) host Vista Murrieta (16-7) in the first round on Tuesday for the right to play at top-seeded Los Angeles Marymount (27-7) in the second round on Nov. 2.

CdM may feel it has a right to be a seeded team in these playoffs, as the Sea Kings won at Marymount in four sets on Sept. 26. As for Tuesday’s opener, the Sea Kings swept Tesoro when the teams met in the Dave Mohs Tournament on Sept. 8.

In Division 3, Laguna Beach (19-7) and Sage Hill (20-8) earned the third and fourth seeds, respectively. Each will get a first-round bye and host a second-round match on Nov. 2.

Costa Mesa (18-6) will host Tustin (15-9) in the first round of the Division 5 bracket. The Mustangs could match up with top-seeded Thousand Oaks La Reina (25-6), if both teams win.

In Division 8, Ocean View (19-4) opens at home against Bolsa Grande (8-10). The Seahawks took five of six sets against the Matadors in two meetings this season.

Pacifica Christian dropped from first to seventh in the Division 10 poll, but the Tritons received the lone at-large berth granted in their division. Out of the eight local teams to make the postseason, Pacifica Christian will be the only one on the road in the first round. The Tritons (11-10-1) visit Wildomar Cornerstone Christian (12-7).

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