St. Ignatius of San Francisco girls celebrate after winning recent match. The Wildcats won on Tuesday vs. Campolindo in NorCal Open Division semifinals and will play Mitty next week in final. Photo: Norbert von der Groeben/SportStars.
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(Through games of Tuesday, Nov. 22)
(Previous ranking in parentheses)
*Indicates season complete.
1. (1) Santa Margarita (Rancho SM) 33-4
Stanford-bound senior Meghan McClure once again led the way with 19 kills as the Eagles advanced to the CIF SoCal Regional Open Division championship game with a 25-18, 25-27, 25-19, 25-13 win on Tuesday night over Torrey Pines of San Diego. Sarah Ciszek added 10 kills as Santa Margarita also extended its winning streak to 21 matches. During the winning streak, the Eagles have lost just a total of six sets and on the season they have lost just 19 of 112 sets played.
Julia Devine is a 6-foot-2 junior middle blocker for No. 2 Mitty. Photo: Mark Tennis.
2. (3) Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) 36-4
With their attack led by a trio of juniors, the Monarchs have now won three straight and five out of their last six matches in straight sets as they defeated Marin Catholic of Kentfield 25-10, 25-17, 26-24 in Tuesday’s CIF NorCal Regional Open Division semifinals. Julia Devine had a team-high 13 kills while fellow juniors Nicole Liddle and Kamrin Caoili each had nine kills. Senior Kate Formico had 17 digs while junior Makaela Tanaka had 35 assists. Mitty will now take on league rival St. Ignatius of San Francisco for the fourth time this season for the NorCal Open Division crown. The Monarchs have won all three meetings this season in straight sets with the two last playing earlier this month in the CIF CCS Open Division championship game.
3. (11) Santa Fe Christian
(Solana Beach) 30-7
Led by one of the top recruits in the nation, Lexi Sun, the Eagles came from behind late in each of the first two sets on the way to the straight set win over previous No. 2 Mater Dei of Santa Ana 26-24, 26-24, 25-23 in the CIF SoCal Regional Open Division semifinals. Trailing 23-16 in the first set, the Eagles scored seven straight points and trailed 24-23 in both of the first two sets before scoring the final three points of each set. On the night, the Texas-bound standout had 31 kills with her final kill coming to win the match. Now on a 10-match winning streak, SFC will now take a crack at No. 1 Santa Margarita in next Tuesday’s regional final.
4. (2) Mater Dei (Santa Ana) 34-7*
This is where the Monarchs fall after their loss on Tuesday to Santa Fe Christian. Since that match was so close and four of MD’s other losses were to Santa Margarita, they could still end up in front of the Eagles in the final rankings. The rest of Mater Dei’s season resume is strong enough for that. Having a win against Mitty plus a few other nationally ranked teams, such as Bishop Moore of Orlando, Fla., is only part of it.
5. (14) Torrey Pines (San Diego) 28-8*
Two factors cause the Falcons go back up near the top this week. First, they defeated previous No. 5 Mira Costa in the SoCal Open Division. Second, the team they lost to in a 3-2 match for the San Diego Open Division title, Santa Fe Christian, just beat Mater Dei and is now playing Santa Margarita for the SoCal Open title next week.
6. (8) St. Ignatius (San Francisco) 32-8
With a spot in the CIF NorCal Regional Open Division championship game on the line, the Wildcats defeated Campolindo of Moraga 25-22, 18-25, 25-15, 25-20 to avenge an earlier season loss in five sets to the Cougars. They will now take on Archbishop Mitty of San Jose for the fourth time this season in the NorCal Open Division final. SI has yet to take a set against the Monarchs this year with the last loss to the Monarchs coming in the CIF CCS Open Division championship game.
7. (5) Mira Costa (Manhattan Beach) 29-10*
The Mustangs fell by scores of 25-20, 22-25, 22-25 and 25-27 to Torrey Pines in their CIF SoCal Open Division match. By getting to the CIFSS D1 semifinals, however, especially with a win over Huntington Beach Edison (which is still going in the CIF D1 state bracket) should ensure a fairly high final state ranking.
8. (6) Edison (Huntington Beach) 33-8
Following up their first-round romp vs. Granada Hills, the Chargers have moved on into the SoCal D1 regional final with wins over Clovis West of Fresno and Lakewood. The Clovis West match was a 3-0 sweep but it required a fifth game to dispatch Lakewood. Edison’s opponent in next week’s SoCal final, with a berth in the D1 state final on the line, will be familiar league rival Huntington Beach.
9. (10) Huntington Beach 31-4
Despite a slow start and dropping the first set, the top seeded Oilers advanced to the CIF SoCal Regional Division I finals on Tuesday with a 15-25, 25-18, 25-20, 25-20 win over previous No. 4 Ventura. Cami Sanchez had a team-high 19 kills while Jillian Kim had 12 and Maggie Baker had 11 kills. In the championship game, it will be an opponent the girls are very familiar with as they will take on Sunset League rival Edison of Huntington Beach. The two sides split their previous two matchups this season with each winning on the other’s home court. We have just had Edison higher in the rankings since it won the second time.
10. (4) Ventura 35-3*
Things could not have started any better for the CIFSS Division II champions as they came out and took the first set 25-15 but they then lost the next three as their season came to an end with a four-set loss to Huntington Beach in the CIF SoCal Regional Division I semifinal. Sammy Slater had a team-high 18 kills while Aubrey Knight added 12 kills. Libby Litten also finished with double digit kills with 10 while Kobie Jimenez recorded 15 digs.
This very cool image was taken from website of CIFSS powerhouse Huntington Beach Edison. Chargers are still playing next week in SoCal D1 final. Photo: edisonvolleyball.com.
11. (9) Lakewood 31-6*
The Lancers go back in front of Poly, as promised, due to having two wins over the Jackrabbits in league play. In the SoCal D1 bracket, head coach Mike Wadley’s team beat Clovis and Canyon Crest Academy before losing to Huntington Beach Edison on Tuesday. Lakewood forced a fifth game, but fell in that one 15-11 as Edison advanced to the SoCal D1 final.
12. (7) Long Beach Poly (Long Beach) 23-10*
It’s a five spot drop for the Jackrabbits after their 3-0 loss to Santa Fe Christian in the first round of the CIF SoCal Open Division playoffs. They could still rise up at least one more spot for the final rankings depending on what happens with Huntington Beach in the D1 state playoffs. If the Oilers don’t win that title (they’re still going), Poly’s win in the CIFSS playoffs would then perhaps push it back higher.
13. (18) Menlo-Atherton (Atherton) 28-5
The Bears advanced to the CIF NorCal D1 final with a straight-set 25-15, 25-21 and 25-12 triumph over Turlock on Tuesday. In the quarterfinals, it also was a straight set win against Tracy. M-A now plays Oak Ridge of El Dorado Hills (36-8) in next Tuesday’s final. We don’t have Oak Ridge in the top 20 since the Trojans have to still be behind two Open Division teams from the Sac-Joaquin Section (Pitman and Christian Brothers).
14. (16) Marymount (Los Angeles) 31-5*
As a lot of teams start dropping out of the CIF Open Division and CIF D1 state title chases, the Sailors and the great regular season they had will help them move up as the final state rankings take shape. They didn’t go far in the CIFSS D1 playoffs, but the team they lost to, Long Beach Poly, went on to have a more than solid run.
15. (12) Sacred Heart Cathedral (SF) 27-9*
We are still going to rank the Irish in the Top 20 despite their loss to Campolindo of Moraga in the CIF NorCal Open Division playoffs. Campolindo still ended the season with 11 losses and the Irish did enough in their other games to overcome the head-to-head defeat.
16. (13) Notre Dame (Belmont) 32-11*
Like Sacred Heart, the Tigers also suffered an upset in the CIF NorCal Open Division playoffs. In their case, it was to Marin Catholic of Kentfield. They also for the entire season considered did too much to be dropped out for this week’s rankings and the final rankings.
17. (15) Pitman (Turlock) 28-8*
It’s only a two-spot drop for the Pride after they were defeated by No. 6 St. Ignatius in the CIF NorCal Open Division playoffs. Helping their cause to remain in the top 20 is the fact that the team they beat in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section D1 final, Oak Ridge of El Dorado Hills, is still going in the CIF D1 bracket and is playing Menlo-Atherton next week for the regional title.
18. (19) La Costa Canyon (Carlsbad) 23-11*
The San Diego Section’s generally strong showing so far in the CIF SoCal playoffs (including Santa Fe Christian beating Mater Dei and Torrey Pines beating Mira Costa) probably will help keep the Mavericks in the final rankings. Their season ended last week with a loss to Mater Dei in the SoCal Open Division and before that lost in the final of the San Diego Open Division to Santa Fe Christian.
19. (17) Christian Brothers (Sacramento) 27-6*
With the team the Falcons swept in the SJS D3 final, Sonora, still going and with a chance to win a D3 state title, we surely can’t drop them far after losing to Mitty in the NorCal Open Division. Among the teams that CBS has beaten this season are Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills) and Valley Christian (San Jose).
20. (NR) Canyon Crest Academy (San Diego) 20-11*
For the final spot this week, it’s going to the Ravens. They lost in the San Diego Open Division to La Costa Canyon and then in a 3-2 match to Lakewood in the SoCal D1 bracket. Canyon Crest also had a win during the season against No. 10 Ventura. This No. 20 position, however, isn’t guaranteed. The eventual CIF D2 state champ may get it for the final rankings. We’ll see.
Dropped Out:
Previous No. 20 Liberty (Bakersfield).
TEAMS ON THE BUBBLE
Campolindo (Moraga) 30-11*
Cathedral Catholic (San Diego) 26-9
Clovis West (Fresno) 34-11*
Corona del Mar (Newport Beach) 19-11*
Eastlake (Chula Vista) 22-9*
El Dorado (Placentia) 26-8*
Flintridge Sacred Heart (La Canada) 23-10*
Great Oak (Temecula) 16-14*
Liberty (Bakersfield) 25-8*
Los Alamitos 19-17*
Marin Catholic (Kentfield) 28-7*
Monte Vista (Danville) 26-7*
Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills) 36-8
Rancho Cucamonga 24-11*
Redondo Union (Redondo Beach) 24-14*
Redwood (Larkspur) 23-15*
San Benito (Hollister) 31-7*
San Juan Hills (SJ Capistrano) 24-3*
Sonora 25-7
St. Francis (Mountain View) 23-14
St. Joseph (Lakewood) 27-14
Temecula Valley (Temecula) 25-5*
Tracy 35-5*
Turlock 27-11*
Valley Christian (San Jose) 21-13
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
