Santa Ana Mater Dei might have finished behind another California team in team standings at the Durango Fall Classic in Las Vegas, but heading into its Sept. 21 match with Santa Margarita had the state’s No. 1 ranking. Photo: FloVolleyball.tv.
After all of the myriad of big matches were played by more than half of the State Top 20 at the Durango Fall Classic last weekend in Las Vegas, the order this week for the top three amazingly remained unchanged between Mater Dei, Santa Margarita and Redondo. Defending CIF Open Division state champ Archbishop Mitty did have a strong showing, however, and moves up from No. 7 to No. 4. Mater Dei and Santa Margarita play this week and the Monarchs already have a win this week over Redondo.
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(Previous rank in parentheses)
(After matches of Tuesday, Sept 19)
1. (1) Mater Dei (Santa Ana) 16-3
At first glance, with the Monarchs finishing third and Redondo finishing second at the Durango Fall Classic last weekend, you might think Redondo should be higher in this week’s rankings. Both teams, however, lost to championship team Assumption of Louisville, Ky., and the scores involving Mater Dei in the semis and the Seahawks in the final were closer for Mater Dei. Then on Tuesday of this week, head coach Dan O’Dell took his team to Redondo and won a five-match set. Sophomores Meg Brown and Mia Tuaniga were named all-tourney at Durango.
2. (2) Santa Margarita (Rancho SM) 10-3
This was one top California team that wasn’t in Las Vegas last weekend. However, on Thursday of this week, Santa Margarita is going to play Mater Dei in the first of two Trinity League matches between the two teams. Mater Dei already has a win over the Eagles at a tournament in Hawaii.
3. (3) Redondo Union (Redondo Beach) 13-3
Perhaps the Seahawks should be second after their runner-up finish at the Durango Fall Classic. If Santa Margarita and Mater Dei weren’t playing on Thursday they would be. Redondo defeated Kamehameha of Hawaii in the semifinals and showed off the type of talent many expected in the preseason. All-tourney honors went to junior Jasmine Davis, sophomore Nalani Iosia and freshman setter Kami Miner.
Makaela Tanaka is a top setter for Archbishop Mitty, which has shown many times how to build from an early loss or two into a legitimate CIF state title contender. Photo: Doug Stringer/SportStars.
4. (7) Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) 13-4
Everything that happened in Vegas ended up not changing the order of the top three teams in the state, but it did cause some shuffling below. Mitty ended up avenging one of its earlier losses to Torrey Pines, knocked off previous No. 5 Marymount and lost its only match of the weekend to semifinalist Kamehameha of Hawaii. The Monarchs also won on Tuesday of this week against St. Francis of Mountain View.
5. (6) Torrey Pines (San Diego) 9-3
The Falcons move up after their Vegas trip despite a loss to Mitty because they earlier got a win over the Monarchs, their only other loss of the weekend was to championship team Assumption (Louisville) and they got a win over an Xavier Prep of Arizona squad that beat previous No. 5 Marymount (Los Angeles). That’s the common opponent clause, in case you’re wondering.
6. (5) Marymount (Los Angeles) 7-4
Although the Sailors had losses in Vegas to Xavier Prep (Arizona) and Archbishop Mitty, they posted quality wins over La Costa Canyon, Fayetteville (Arkansas), St. Ignatius (SF) and Mira Costa. It’s therefore just a slight drop in this week’s rankings.
7. (4) St. Ignatius (San Francisco) 21-3
The Wildcats didn’t come home completely empty-handed from Vegas, either. One big win came against Iolani of Hawaii, which was the team that very early in the season won the Ann Kang Invitational over a strong field that included Mater Dei and Santa Margarita. The SF girls just had to drop behind Marymount due to a head-to-head loss to that team.
8. (8) Temecula Valley (Temecula) 10-0
The Golden Bears maintained some momentum that they gained by winning the Dave Mohs tourney over Long Beach Poly with a 3-0 win earlier this week over Orange Lutheran. They should be tested in upcoming Southwestern League matches with current bubble team Vista Murrieta among those also to watch.
9. (9) Sacred Heart Cathedral (San Francisco) 12-1
The Fighting Irish have a chance to avenge their only loss later this week in a West Catholic Athletic League matchup with arch-rival St. Ignatius. They played the Wildcats and lost earlier at the Milpitas Spikefest. On Tuesday, SHC had a tough match with Presentation of San Jose and escaped with a 3-2 win.
10. (10) Long Beach Poly (Long Beach) 15-3
Head coach Leland McGrath’s girls warmed up for this week’s Moore League showdown with Lakewood with easy triumphs against Compton and Cabrillo of Long Beach. One player the Lancers need to be wary of is Poly’s Kalyah Williams, who already has been one of the SoCal Prep Legends Girls Athletes of the Week and has committed to Washington State.
11. (15) Central (Fresno) 26-2
Both of the Grizzlies’ losses at the Durango Fall Classic were to out-of-state teams. They didn’t beat any other State Top 20 teams there, but did get past both La Salle (Pasadena) and Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth). This is still looking more and more like the team to beat for the CIF Central Section D1 title.
Long Beach Poly standout Kalyah Williams will play next at Washington State. Photo: @LBPolyVB/Twitter.com.
12. (18) Lakewood 11-2
The Lancers just did the usual during the week and that was rolling over Compton and Cabrillo of Long Beach in Moore League matches. We moved them up in anticipation of their big match on Thursday against No. 10 Long Beach Poly and their head-to-head win over Harvard-Westlake is looking stronger.
13. (14) Mira Costa (Manhattan Beach) 4-5
The Mustangs lost three times in Vegas but all three were to teams — Kamehameha (Hawaii), Marymount and Iolani (Hawaii) — that are nationally ranked. Their earlier win over Edison (Huntington Beach) also is still proving to be important as Edison has won some big matches in recent weeks.
14. (NR) Edison (Huntington Beach) 8-8
This school’s girls team is much like the boys from last spring, which means there are some great wins sprinkled in with a very difficult schedule. At the Durango Fall Classic, Edison beat nationally ranked Mercy of Louisville, Ky., in addition to Harvard-Westlake and went 3-0 in its pool. It’s losses were to St. Ignatius (ranked higher) and Xavier Prep of Arizona (which also is nationally ranked).
15. (NR) Harvard-Westlake (North Hollywood) 11-5
This was another California team to beat preseason Ann Kang Invitational champion Iolani in Las Vegas. The Wolverines also had wins there against previous No. 12 Marin Catholic, previous No. 13 Canyon Crest Academy and their only losses were to Edison (HB) and Mater Dei.
16. (16) Carlmont (Belmont) 11-1
The Scots will continue to get a Top 20 state ranking for their early win against Mitty, but the schedule hasn’t been as tough since then. Last week, head coach Chris Crader’s team cruised to wins against local San Mateo County opponents Half Moon Bay, Hillsdale of San Mateo and San Mateo.
17. (17) JSerra (San Juan Capistrano) 12-3
Senior Caroline Kennedy hammered down 21 kills as the Lions defeated Foothill of Tustin 3-1 in their most recent match. Kylie Pries added 14 kills while senior Kate Gonzales handed out 33 assists. JSerra’s last loss was to Redondo.
18. (12) Marin Catholic (Kentfield) 8-3
As the Wildcats were beginning the season with just a few matches, we said more than once that their trip to play at the Durango Fall Classic would tell a lot. They went 3-3 there, but stay in the State Top 20 since the three losses were to Harvard-Westlake, Xavier Prep of Arizona (nationally ranked) and Assumption of Kentucky (ended up winning the title).
19. (20) Cathedral Catholic (San Diego) 7-4
Losses by the Dons at the Durango Fall Classc were to Xavier Prep of Arizona and Mercy of Kentucky. None of the four teams they beat were in the Flo50 national rankings, but Bonneville is a defending state champion in Idaho and Rancho Cucamonga was on our bubble for the State Top 20.
20. (NR) Monte Vista (Danville) 10-0
For this final spot this week, unbeaten Monte Vista of the CIF North Coast Section reaches up and takes it. The Mustangs weren’t in Vegas, but they went to the Presentation Panther Challenge in San Jose and won the title, not to mention continuing to be unbeaten. Monte Vista topped the host school in the semifinals and beat Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills) in the final. Bubble team St. Francis (Mountain View) also was in the field.
TEAMS THAT DROPPED OUT
Previous No. 11 La Costa Canyon (Carlsbad); No. 13 Canyon Crest Academy (San Diego); No. 19 Los Alamitos.
TEAMS ON THE BUBBLE
Buchanan (Clovis) 16-4
Canyon Crest Academy (San Diego) 7-4
Huntington Beach 9-4
La Costa Canyon (Carlsbad) 7-3
La Salle (Pasadena) 10-1
Liberty (Bakersfield) 10-6
Los Alamitos 14-6
Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks) 6-3
Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth) 10-4
St. Francis (Mountain View) 8-4
Valley Christan (San Jose) 10-5
Vista Murrieta (Murrieta) 7-3
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
