New No. 16 Palos Verdes made history on Tuesday with win vs. Mira Costa. Sea Kings are shown above after winning tourney earlier in year. Photo: @GoSeaKings / Twitter.com.
Thanks to La Costa Canyon’s upset of Torrey Pines, the state and national rankings are in a state of flux this week. We’re listing Redondo Union back on top for the state, but some are putting Mater Dei at No. 1 in the nation. The amazing aspect of this week is that the top 11 teams in the state will all be in the Durango Fall Classic in Las Vegas. Next week’s rankings afterward will not be in a state of flux.
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All-State Nominations: This year’s Cal-Hi Sports All-State Teams for girls volleyball will be drastically expanded. In the past, we’ve done a player of year, coach of year and then two teams of 12 players overall (1st & 2nd team). Starting this season, we will be honoring girls volleyball players for separate all-state teams for freshmen, sophomores, juniors, medium schools, small schools and large schools (similar to format for boys and girls hoops). Coaches & parents are welcome to send in nominations as the season begins to conclude. Send to markjtennis@gmail.com.
(Previous ranking in parentheses)
(Through reported results of Tuesday, Sept. 17)
1. (2) Redondo Union (Redondo Beach) 15-1
The Sea Hawks will likely be 16-1 heading to the Durango Fall Classic and they’ll have All-American junior setter Kami Miner there with them. Miner wasn’t playing when Redondo knocked off Mater Dei in five games two weeks ago, which was followed by the team losing down in San Diego to Torrey Pines. With that head-to-head win and with Mater Dei having two losses instead of one, we’re simply listing the Sea Hawks first in the state going into this week’s huge tourney.
2. (3) Mater Dei (Santa Ana) 8-2
A scintillating five-set win by the Monarchs against national No. 1 Assumption of Louisville, Ky., was the highlight of their week. They later played in Assumption’s tournament where both teams lost in matches to Padua Franciscan of Parma, Ohio. We didn’t do a national ranking for FloVolleyball this week (next one for them will be after Durango) but since Mater Dei didn’t follow up the Assumption win (it broke a 68-match win streak for the Rockets) with a tourney title, we have gone for Redondo still in front of the Monarchs with a head-to-head win and a better overall record. Assumption also will be in the field at Durango along with other top-ranked teams from other states (except Texas).
3. (4) Marymount (Los Angeles) 8-0
The Sailors will have matches against both Marlborough and Harvard-Westlake before going to Durango so they should be 10-0. Their rise above Torrey Pines in the rankings is due to having a win over the same La Costa Canyon of Carlsbad team that was the team that upset previous No. 1 Torrey Pines. Marymount hasn’t yet played another top 10 team, but has played a lot of the traditional SoCal powers and has been impressive.
Jake Spain talks to team at Marin Catholic after it won CIF North Coast Section D3 title last season. Photo: Harold Abend.
4. (1) Torrey Pines (San Diego 12-1
Playing on the road at La Costa Canyon of Carlsbad several days after knocking off No. 1 Redondo Union in its home gym proved to be a tough obstacle for the Falcons. They lost to their rivals 3-0, but each set was close. LCC generally plays Torrey Pines close, but this season has been the epitome of an up-and-down squad so it’s not like the loss was to another highly ranked national opponent. As a result, the Falcons have reverted back behind both Redondo and Mater Dei in this week’s rankings as well as behind unbeaten Marymount of Los Angeles.
5. (5) Cathedral Catholic (San Diego) 8-3
The Dons cruised to a 3-0 win on Tuesday night over Scripps Ranch of San Diego and are hoping to make some noise at the Durango tourney in Las Vegas. With two losses to Torrey Pines, moving up this week wasn’t possible but a match this weekend against the Falcons (or one of the state’s other top four teams) could provide Cathedral Catholic with a golden opportunity.
6. (9) Marin Catholic (Kentfield) 6-0
Northern California’s No. 1 team posted a ho-hum 3-0 victory last week over Redwood of Larkspur and was expected to roll Wednesday night vs. Tamalpais. The Wildcats also are headed to the Durango tourney in Las Vegas and will be looking to play the best and do their best.
7. (7) Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth) 19-1
Taylor Simpson had 21 assists and six kills in a 2-0 win over Dos Pueblos of Goleta that finished up an unbeaten run by the Trailblazers at the Royal (Simi Valley) tourney. Freshman Jaida Stone also had eight kills and Jaylen Jordan had seven. Sierra Canyon, which has lost only to Torrey Pines, should be 20-1 when they go to Vegas.
8. (9) Foothill (Tustin) 12-2
The Knights are doing a flip-flop with previous No. 8 St. Francis (Mountain View) after notching quality wins last week against Lakewood and St. Margaret’s of San Juan Capistrano. They also played on Tuesday night and swept league rival Esperanza of Anaheim.
9. (8) St. Francis (Mountain View) 14-1
It isn’t much of a drop for the Lancers after they lost their first match of the season last week to Notre Dame of Belmont. They had a win over that same team earlier this season and have won enough already so that punishing them more didn’t make sense. Plus, St. Francis will be joining the field at the Durango Fall Classic.
10. (10) Sacred Heart Cathedral (San Francisco) 8-2
Head coach Margi Beima’s girls have a tough match on Wednesday of this week against league rival Valley Christian (San Jose). VC just notched a win over Archbishop Mitty. SHC has lost its two matches to No. 6 Marin Catholic and No. 9 St. Francis of Mountain View.
11. (11) Los Alamitos 12-4
The Griffins made it six straight wins with a 3-0 victory on Tuesday against Newport Harbor of Newport Beach. They also have now won nine in a row over the Sailors. All of those streaks, though, probably were tested on Wednesday night by Corona del Mar.
12. (12) St. Francis (Sacramento) 14-0
This would be the highest ranked team in the state that isn’t going to be in the Durango Fall Classic this weekend in Las Vegas. The Troubadours stayed unbeaten with a key league match triumph over Pleasant Grove of Elk Grove. Assuming they keep winning, it could be a decent jump next week if some of the others who are going to Vegas don’t do well.
13. (14) Long Beach Poly (Long Beach) 9-3
The Jackrabbits swept St. Joseph of Lakewood last week in the annual Steve Lewis Memorial Match. They also won on Tuesday in a Moore League contest against Cabrillo of Long Beach. This also is another top California team going to the Durango Fall Classic.
Cambria Hall is a player to watch for Laguna Beach. Photo: ncsasports.org.
14. (15) Village Christian (Sun Valley) 9-3
The big win of the last week for the Crusaders was against San Fernando Valley rival Harvard-Westlake. With senior Kendall Jensen handing out 39 assists, Village Christian won in four games. Head coach Brent Asuka’s team also had a win on Tuesday vs. Whittier Christian and was scheduled to play Valley Christian of Cerritos (probable win) on Wednesday.
15. (NR) Laguna Beach 19-4
Cambria Hall hammered 19 kills with Luisa Lofranco adding 12 as the Breakers defeated previous No. 19 Huntington Beach 3-0 to earn their way into this week’s rankings. Since then, Laguna Beach has won additional matches over Marina and Edison (both also Huntington Beach) and this weekend is going to be at Durango.
16. (NR) Palos Verdes (PV Estates) 14-6
It was quite a night for volleyball on Tuesday when the Sea Kings faced previous No. 13 Mira Costa of Manhattan Beach and were able to finally win a match over the Mustangs. According to the South Bay Daily Breeze, PV in fact won for the first time ever against its South Bay rivals. After an 0-2 start, head coach Patrick Lynch’s squad has some other quality wins as well, such as those vs. Harvard-Westlake (Studio City) and Long Beach Wilson.
17. (NR) La Costa Canyon (Carlsbad) 11-7
There are some questionable losses on the season slate, but for getting the win against Torrey Pines and completely screwing up the state rankings we’ve got to give some credit to the Mavericks. Junior Cami Cox led the way with 13 kills in that match. Senior Sophia Tulino, the team leader for the season, had 10 kills. And guess what? LCC will be at Durango, too, and will try to keep screwing up the rankings.
18. (17) Pleasant Valley (Chico) 12-0
A bit of the luster from the Vikings’ perfect record is lost since the SoCal team that they beat for the Burbank tourney title earlier this month, Huntington Beach, is now no longer in the State Top 20. Pleasant Valley isn’t just sticking close to home for the rest of the regular season, either. It will be playing this week at the East Bay Classic and should face the best teams from the CIF North Coast Section (except James Logan, which will be in Vegas).
19. (18) Monte Vista (Danville) 10-1
The Mustangs rolled over league rival Amador Valley of Pleasanton 3-0 in a Tuesday night match. They will be in the East Bay Classic this weekend where the winner of the event will be putting itself near of the top of the Northern California pecking order.
20. (20) Clovis North (Fresno) 16-2
Head coach Travis Herb’s squad would still be our No. 1 from the CIF Central Section. The Broncos swept Centennial of Bakersfield last week and were scheduled to play El Diamante of Visalia on Tuesday of this week.
DROPPED OUT:
Previous NO. 13 Mira Costa (Manhattan Beach), No. 16 Temecula Valley (Temecula); No. 19 Huntington Beach.
TEAMS ON THE BUBBLE
Aliso Niguel (Aliso Viejo) 8-3
Bishop O’Dowd (Oakland) 5-3
Campolindo (Moraga) 4-3
Chaparral (Temecula) 22-4
Clovis West (Fresno) 15-4
Corona del Mar (Newport Beach) 4-1
Eastlake (Chula Vista) 18-5
Flintridge Sacred Heart (La Canada) 7-1
Huntington Beach 12-6
James Logan (Union City) 2-0
Lakewood 8-6
Menlo-Atherton (Atherton) 8-2
Mira Costa (Manhattan Beach) 3-2
Notre Dame (Belmont) 6-5
Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills) 15-2
Palo Alto 5-4
Rancho Cucamonga 7-4
San Juan Hills (SJ Capistrano) 14-5
Valley Christian (San Jose) 7-5
Wilson (Long Beach) 13-6
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
