For the third time this season, we have a flip-flop at the top between Archbishop Mitty and Valley Christian, but overall the power is still concentrated in the West Catholic Athletic League and in the South Bay in general.
The only two representatives from the CIF North Coast Section are from the Redwood Empire area, Redwood and Branson, and they’re both from the Marin County Athletic League, and like the girls from the WCAL, they’ll be part of a showdown in this week’s league playoffs.
Note: This week’s rankings do not include any Tuesday matches played this week and are through games played on Nov. 4. Also, for this week’s new State Top 20 in girls volleyball, CLICK HERE.
Watch highlights of the Bay Area’s best teams every Sunday at 7 p.m. on KOFY, Channel 20, San Francisco.
1. (2) Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) 21-4
Word of the demise of the Monarchs’ fall from grace is a bit premature, particularly after they ran the table and captured a second straight Santa Barbara TOC title. Along the way, they evened the score with Valley Christian in the semifinals, and then beat the same Pasadena La Salle team, 3-2 in the title match, that they defeated 2-0 in the Durango Tournament. St. Mary’s-committed 6-2 outside hitter Clare Powers was named the tournament most valuable player.
2. (1) Valley Christian (San Jose) 28-6
After the Warrior girls lost 3-1 to Mitty in the Santa Barbara TOC semifinals, they took a 3-2 third-place game victory from the Manhattan Beach Mira Costa team that handed previous state No. 1 San Diego Torrey Pines a second round upset loss.
3. (3) Redwood (Larkspur) 37-4
Just when things were looking rosy for the Giants they ran into league arch-rival Branson and the Bulls pinned a 3-2 loss on the hosts. We could have dropped Redwood below Branson, but the Giants’ strength of schedule, including an earlier win over Branson, means they got to stay in front of the Bulls for now. Redwood drew a first round bye in the Marin County Athletic League playoffs.
4. (4) Menlo (Atherton) 24-5
While others were busy with tough matches or tournaments, the Lady Knights only had one match, and that was a 3-1 win over San Francisco Mercy.
5. (6) Branson (Ross) 27-6
The Bulls move into the top five here and break into the state rankings after their big win over Redwood. The lumps they’ve taken mostly have been from large SoCal schools.
6. (5) Sacred Heart Cathedral (San Francisco) 25-6
The Irish drop a spot to make room for Branson and its impressive resume.
7. (7) St. Francis (Mountain View) 19-11
The Lancers lost again to Sacred Heart Cathedral but their overall body of work, coupled with going 2-1 over a Bishop O’Dowd team that just lost to a Presentation team the Lancers have split with, means they get to stay put.
8. (9) Homestead (Cupertino) 19-7
With Bishop O’Dowd dropping out, the Mustangs move up and take that spot.
9. NR) Presentation (San Jose) 20-13
Just about all the losses are to teams ranked above them or to Sac-Joaquin Section large school teams. They do have a loss to a Palo Alto team that just lost to Los Gatos, but they have wins over Homestead, St. Francis (Mountain View), Menlo, St. Francis (Sacramento), Redwood, and they just beat previous No. 8 O’Dowd.
10. (NR) Los Altos 28-5
After Palo Alto was softened up by Sacred Heart Cathedral, the Vikings fell victim to our second newcomer, which rebounded from a loss to Homestead to take a 2-0 victory from Paly.
Dropped out: Previous No. 8 Bishop O’Dowd (Oakland); No. 10 (10) Palo Alto.
