CIF-SS girls’ volleyball playoffs: Sage Hill earns No. 4 seed in Division 3AA
Failing to defend its Academy League title didn’t hurt the Sage Hill School girls’ volleyball team that much.
Sage Hill earned the No. 4 seed in the CIF Southern Section Division 3AA playoffs on Friday. Sage Hill (15-10) now looks to defend its section championship.
Sage Hill opens the playoffs at home against Menifee Paloma Valley (12-11-2) on Tuesday at 7 p.m. Paloma Valley is the third-place team from the Sunbelt League.
The other two local programs that start the playoffs on Tuesday are Corona del Mar, the Pacific Coast League champion, and Estancia, the Orange Coast League’s No. 3 representative.
The Sea Kings (21-4) play host to Long Beach Wilson (22-12), which finished third in the Moore League, in a Division 1AA first-round match. The Eagles (13-10) travel to San Gabriel Valley League champion Downey Warren (15-6) for a Division 2AA first-round contest.
“Our league is very, very competitive,” said Sage Hill Coach Dan Thomassen, whose team lost its league finale in five sets at third-place Crean Lutheran on Tuesday and finished one match back of first-place St. Margaret’s, which is the No. 2 seed in the Division 3AA playoffs. “Any of our league’s top three teams have a chance to get to the finals.”
Those three programs, St. Margaret’s, Sage Hill and Crean Lutheran, have proven in the past that they’re playoff contenders.
Sage Hill has made section finals appearances in each of the previous four years, and it has always faced a league foe, beating St. Margaret’s last year and Crean Lutheran in 2013, losing to St. Margaret’s in ‘12, and topping St. Margaret’s in ’11.
“We have girls that know what it takes to win a big match,” said Thomassen, referring to Jade Blevins, Lina Aluzri, Sahar Rohani and Jamie Dailey contributing to last year’s championship run.
While Sage Hill received a top-four seed, CdM didn’t in Division 1AA. The Sea Kings’ 1-3 showing at the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions last weekend cost them dearly.
The Sea Kings went into the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions ranked No. 4 in Division 1AA. By finishing eighth during the two-day tournament, CdM fell to No. 7 in this week’s final poll. The Sea Kings dropped their final three matches at the tournament, losing to Mater Dei in four sets and in three sets to two Northern California teams, San Jose Presentation and Mountain View Saint Francis.
Before CdM prepared for the postseason, it ended its longest losing streak in nine years on Tuesday. The Sea Kings swept Irvine to claim their seventh straight undefeated league title.
The title CdM wants to play for is in the premier division in the playoffs. The Sea Kings last reached a section championship match four years ago and they last won it 11 years ago.
The road to the Division 1AA finals will be tough for CdM, which has a strong senior group in Jessie Harris, Payton Carter, Natalia Bruening and Sydney Alacano. If the Sea Kings, who advanced to the semifinals a year ago, can get past the first two rounds, they will most likely run into No. 2-seeded Temecula Great Oak (23-3), ranked No. 3 in the state by MaxPreps.com, in the quarterfinals.
