Players from Torrey Pines’ 2017 varsity team gather for photo. They won a big match last week against Archbishop Mitty of San Jose. Photo: Anna Scipone/tpvolleyball.com.
Defending CIF Open Division champion Archbishop Mitty makes a Labor Day weekend trip to Orange County and the results of those matches cause some changes. The Monarchs couldn’t beat either state No. 1 Mater Dei or Torrey Pines of San Diego (now up to No. 6) but they did beat Canyon Crest Academy, which despite that loss still moved up two spots in this week’s rankings. This week’s only newcomers are Harvard-Westlake of North Hollywood and Los Alamitos.
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(Previous rank in parentheses)
(After matches of Tuesday, Sept 5)
1. (1) Mater Dei (Santa Ana) 8-2
After losing the first game of the match, the Monarchs solidified their hold on the state’s top ranking by winning next three games to beat defending CIF Open Division state champ Archbishop Mitty of San Jose. Last year, Mater Dei went up to NorCal and topped Mitty on the road. By the end of the season, however, Mitty had improved to the point of being the state’s best.
Guess where Marymount standout junior Devon Newberry has committed to for college? Wonder if she saw last Sunday’s football game? Photo: gnbv.net.
2. (3) St. Ignatius (San Francisco) 6-0
This was a good week to flip-flop the Wildcats with previous No. 2 Long Beach Poly. St. Ignatius followed up its Milpitas Spikefest tourney title with a non-league victory vs. Aragon of San Mateo and remains unbeaten.
3. (2) Long Beach Poly (Long Beach) 4-1
Poly’s win over Newport Harbor (Newport Beach) wasn’t on its MaxPreps page, but showed up on the team’s Twitter feed. Whoever wrote it may have a sportswriting future: “Did it with some beastly blocks and plenty of killer kills.”
4. (4) Santa Margarita (Rancho SM) 8-3
That win from the previous week against Marymount of Los Angeles keeps the Eagles firmly in this spot. They’re right behind LB Poly team they lost to in Hawaii.
5. (5) Marymount (Los Angeles) 2-1
The Sailors have picked up two wins over state-ranked foes since last week. First came a win against Torrey Pines of San Diego, which then beat Mitty in its next match. Then on Tuesday night of this week, perennial power Mira Costa gave them a test. Marymount won the first two games 26-24, then lost game three before winning game four 25-21.
6. (9) Torrey Pines (San Diego) 2-1
After opening the season with a win over defending CIF D2 state champ Cathedral Catholic, the Falcons went up against No. 5 Marymount last week and lost in a tough 3-2 match and then faced defending CIF Open Division state champ Archbishop Mitty and won 3-1.
7. (7) Redondo Union (Redondo Beach) 1-0
Once this team gets all its pieces in play, watch out. As for now, we’ll wait until the Seahawks actually win some meaningful matches before moving them up too high. One newcomer to watch is 5-foot-11 freshman Kami Miner, who has moved from Las Vegas. She has major D1 recruiting interest based on those who’ve seen her play in the summer.
8. (8) Lakewood 5-0
The Lancers won their own Molten Classic tourney last week, first by topping Los Alamitos in the semifinals and then Harvard-Westlake in the final. It should be another great Moore League race between them and Long Beach Poly this season.
9. (6) Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) 6-3
We could have just dropped the Monarchs behind Torrey Pines after they lost to the Falcons in a match played over the weekend at Corona del Mar. That would have required dropping both Redondo and Lakewood one spot, however, which neither deserved. Mitty’s other loss last week was to No. 1 Mater Dei. There also was a win during the trip to SoCal over state-ranked Canyon Crest Academy.
10. (10) Sacred Heart Cathedral (San Francisco) 5-1
A non-league win against Burlingame keeps the Irish in the 10th position. We couldn’t move them in front of league rival Mitty. They have wins over Menlo School and Carlmont with the only loss coming to arch rival St. Ignatius.
11. (12) La Costa Canyon (Carlsbad) 2-0
The Mavericks have a match this week against Point Loma of San Diego, which won last week over 2017 CIF SoCal Open Division finalist Santa Fe Christian. They won in three straight games earlier this week against San Dieguito Academy.
New Harvard-Westlake head coach Hayley Blanchard was the South Bay Daily Breeze Coach of the Year last season for Mira Costa. Photo: FloVolleyball.tv.
12. (13) Mira Costa (Manhattan Beach) 1-1
Since Marin Catholic still hadn’t played after Tuesday night of this week, the Mustangs get a two-spot bump after their win last week against 2016 CIF Division I state champion Edison of Huntington Beach plus their strong showing in a loss on Tuesday to No. 5 Marymount. They are playing at home against No. 4 Santa Margarita next Tuesday.
13. (13) Marin Catholic (Kentfield) 0-0
Still no movement for this team due to late start. The Wildcats are going to the Durango Classic this season, which starts in two weeks in Las Vegas.
14. (16) Canyon Crest Academy (San Diego) 2-1
The Ravens faced three state-ranked opponents to start the season and did better than okay. They edged 2017 CIF D2 state champ Cathedral Catholic of San Diego, lost to No. 9 Archbishop Mitty, but then beat previous No. 15 Corona del Mar.
15. (NR) Harvard-Westlake (North Hollywood) 4-1
Getting to the finals of the Lakewood Molten Classic gives the Warriors a boost in this week’s rankings. Before the loss, they topped previous No. 11 Huntington Beach in the semifinals. If Harvard-Westlake becomes a powerhouse, that won’t be a surprise. First-year head coach Hayley Blanchard previously was at Mira Costa.
16. (17) Turlock 2-0
After the Bulldogs got that win over St. Mary’s (Stockton) that didn’t count, they rolled over Beyer of Modesto and Hilmar in two matches that do count. They would actually now be a stronger No. 1 out of the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section since their rivals from Pitman (Turlock) lost last week to Clovis East.
17. (19) Carlmont (Belmont) 6-1
Team that notched victory against Mitty at the Milpitas Spikefest got another quality win last week 3-2 over Notre Dame of Belmont. That program was nationally and state ranked last season.
18. (NR) Los Alamitos 5-1
While Sunset League rivals Huntington Beach and Edison were getting the highest rankings last year, the Griffins were not far behind. They had a lot of losses but were very competitive against the best competition. So far in 2017, Los Al has lost only to Lakewood and has a win over Huntington Beach.
19. (15) Corona del Mar (Newport Beach) 1-1
We will leave the Seakings in there at the bottom of the State Top 20 after they notched a win against Trabuco Hills (team beat HB Edison in its first match) and then lost to Canyon Crest Academy (now No. 14)
20. (18) Cathedral Catholic (San Diego) 1-2
We’re also not going to drop out the Dons all the way. Their only win so far has come against Bishop’s of La Jolla and while they are 1-2 their losses were in five-gamers to Torrey Pines and Canyon Crest Academy.
TEAMS THAT DROPPED OUT
Previous No. 11 Huntington Beach; No. 20 Liberty (Bakersfield).
TEAMS ON THE BUBBLE
Clovis East (Clovis) 3-0
Clovis North (Fresno) 6-2
Edison (Huntington Beach) 0-2
Flintridge Sacred Heart (La Canada) 2-1
Huntington Beach 3-2
Menlo School (Atherton) 6-23
Pitman (Turlock) 2-1
Rancho Cucamonga 2-0
Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth) 3-0
St. Francis (Mountain View) 4-2
Temecula Valley (Temecula) 3-0
Trabuco Hills (Mission Viejo) 1-1
Tracy 12-1
Ventura 2-0
Vista Murrieta (Murrieta) 1-0
Mark Tennis is the co-founder and publisher of CalHiSports.com. He can be reached at markjtennis@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow Mark on the Cal-Hi Sports Twitter handle: @CalHiSports
