Emily Fitzner & Daniela Fornaciari of state-ranked and nationally ranked San Diego Torrey Pines defend the net in recent match. Photo: Anna Scipione/@TorreyPinesHS.
San Diego area teams La Costa Canyon and Santa Fe Christian make strong moves, but the top of the order stays the same after developments at the Nike Tournament of Champions in Arizona. No. 1 Mater Dei and No. 2 Mitty, however, both had their chances to be mythical national champion diminished.
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(Through games of Tuesday, Oct. 4)
(Previous ranking in parentheses)
1. (1) Mater Dei (Santa Ana) 20-3
After the Monarchs suffered their first loss of the season to Santa Margarita last Wednesday, they went to the Nike TOC and finished third in the top Platinum Division. They bounced back from a loss to Gilbert of Arizona and fell in a spirited semifinal to Corona del Sol of Arizona. Mater Dei topped Notre Dame of Belmont in the third-place game. Finishing first and third in the two major national tournaments still keeps the Monarchs No. 1 in the state.
2. (2) Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) 19-3
Like Mater Dei, Mitty also had a loss at the Nike TOC to Corona del Sol of Arizona. Their other loss was to Mercy of Louisville, Ky., a team they beat earlier in the event. The Monarchs finished sixth in the Platinum Division and also won enough big matches to keep them No. 2 in the state.
Grace Frohling is a 6-foot-2 setter for Marymount of Los Angeles. Her sister, Hannah, plays currently for Pepperdine. Photo: Twitter.com.
3. (3) San Juan Hills (San Juan Capistrano) 15-1
Since suffering their first loss of the season against Mater Dei, the Stallions have not lost a set during a six match winning streak that saw them defeat San Clemente 3-0 earlier this week. Junior Katie Lukes is over 200 kills already on the season and is averaging 5.1 kills per set.
4. (6) Santa Margarita (Rancho SM) 12-4
We have to give the Eagles some credit for knocking off No. 1 Mater Dei since nobody else in the state has been able to do that this season. Their other losses, including two to Mira Costa compared with one win vs. the Mustangs, is why they’re fourth and not third.
5. (4) Torrey Pines (San Diego) 12-2
The Falcons have started this week by beating San Dieguito after winning last week over Sage Creek and Carlsbad. They drop one spot to make room for Santa Margarita (which is moving up because of its win over Mater Dei).
6. (5) Mira Costa (Manhattan Beach) 17-5
It was a quiet week for the Mustangs, but they’ll be busy this week, highlighted by a Thursday night matchup against arch-rival Redondo.
7. (10) Notre Dame (Belmont) 17-7
Head coach Jen Agresti’s girls definitely deserve to come up after they finished fourth in the top Platinum Division of the Nike TOC. That’s higher than Mitty, although the Monarchs still have a head-to-head win over the Tigers. It also had to be pleasing for Agresti to see her team battle No. 1 Mater Dei in a 26-24 game in that third-place match in Arizona.
8. (7) Huntington Beach 16-3
The Oilers have now won seven straight since their loss to San Juan Hills while dropping just two sets after a straight set win over Fountain Valley last week. Cami Sanchez had 17 kills and Anna Carroll added nine in that recent win over Edison.
9. (9) Edison (Huntington Beach) 22-7
The Chargers have dropped due to their loss on Tuesday to Huntington Beach and a loss from the week before to Santa Margarita. Edison still has a head-to-head win over Notre Dame of Belmont, the No. 2 team in NorCal.
10. (11) St. Ignatius (San Francisco) 17-4
UCLA-bound outside hitter Anne Crouch helped the Wildcats win a big match last week vs. Presentation of San Jose.
11. (12) Lakewood 17-3
The Lancers move up one spot (accounting for previous No. 8 Redondo going down) after they topped Los Alamitos in a five-game match to win the Steve Lewis Volleyfest tourney title.
12. (13) Marymount (Los Angeles) 17-3
It was a hurdle cleared for the Sailors on Tuesday when they ventured into the gym at Louisville of Woodland Hills and won a difficult match. The second game was 25-23 and they lost the third game 25-22 before winning the match impressively 25-10 in the fourth game.
13. (15) Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills) 20-4
The Trojans started the season on a seven-game winning streak and now they are currently on an eight-game winning streak after a three-set sweep over Rocklin on Monday night. Going into the season without three starters from last year’s team that went 35-3, the team this season has been led by several players, including Cameryn Collie and Hailey Maniglia.
14. (14) Ventura 18-0
The top-ranked team in the CIFSS among Division II schools, the Cougars continue to look good with a senior-dominated roster.
15. (NR) La Costa Canyon (Carlsbad) 10-4
Having a win over Santa Fe Christian (which did well at the Nike TOC) also helps the Mavericks move up this week. Head coach Said Souikane’s girls also have some other good wins (Lone Peak of Utah) and have all losses to higher-ranked foes other than Long Beach Poly (on the bubble).
16. (NR) Santa Fe Christian (Solana Beach) 15-5
The best win for the Eagles at the Nike TOC was against Redondo, but they also took games off of highly ranked national teams Bishop Moore (Florida) and Walton (Georgia).
17. (8) Redondo Union (Redondo Beach) 11-8
It was a rough trip for the Seahawks at the Nike TOC, but all of the losses were to highly ranked opponents. It also didn’t make sense to drop them all the way out of the rankings when they’re playing Mira Costa on Thursday.
18. (17) Valley Christian (San Jose) 13-7
Similar to Redondo not going down that far with a big game this week, the Warriors have Mitty on Wednesday (same day we did this update). Their loss to St. Francis last week wasn’t good, but they still have wins over both Sacred Heart Cathedral and Menlo-Atherton. Those two teams ended up instead dropping out to make room for La Costa Canyon and Santa Fe Christian even though SHC’s loss was to Mitty and M-A didn’t lose at all.
19. (20) Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth) 16-1
Since losing in their second match of the season to Marymount, the Trailblazers have won 15 in a row while losing just a total of four sets after a 3-0 win over Windward of Los Angeles earlier this week. Sophomore May Pertofsky had 15 kills while senior Cameron Antoine-Dillon was also in double digits with 11 kills.
20. (NR) Flintridge Sacred Heart (La Canada) 13-4
We’ll move back in the Tologs after a solid win on Tuesday over Harvard-Westlake. Their overall body of work, including wins over Mira Costa and La Costa Canyon, also enables them to be higher than Louisville of Woodland Hills team they lost to two weeks ago.
Dropped Out:
Previous No. 16 Clovis, No. 18 Sacred Heart Cathedral (San Francisco), No. 19 Menlo-Atherton (Atherton).
TEAMS ON THE BUBBLE
Christian Brothers (Sacramento) 11-2
Clovis 28-6
Foothill (Pleasanton) 19-4
Harvard-Westlake (N. Hollywood) 8-8
Long Beach Poly (Long Beach) 14-5
Marin Catholic (Kentfield) 15-4
Menlo-Atherton (Atherton) 13-4
Pleasant Grove (Elk Grove) 18-2
Presentation (San Jose) 19-6
Rancho Cucamonga 12-4
Sacred Heart Cathedral (San Francisco) 16-3
St. Francis (Mountain View) 15-9
Temecula Valley (Temecula) 14-2
Tracy 21-3
Stockton office assistant editor Paul Muyskens and SportStars Magazine editor Chace Bryson contributed to these rankings. 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
