Mater Dei girls celebrate after winning earlier playoff match. They will play Torrey Pines on Saturday in CIF SoCal Open Division final. Photo: @MaterDeiVB/Twitter.com.
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(Previous rank in parentheses)
(After matches of Tuesday, Nov. 21)
*Indicates season complete.
1. (1) Torrey Pines (San Diego) 34-3
Both matches involving the Falcons and No. 2 Mater Dei on Tuesday were carbon copies in that both teams bounced back from horrible fourth set losses to win in the fifth set. Torrey Pines lost in its fourth set 25-8 to No. 6 Redondo before winning in the fifth 18-16. The visitors came in strong knowing they could win at Torrey Pines because they did just two years ago. Jaden Whitmarsh had 17 kills for the Falcons, who won their 26th straight match. Daniela Fornaciari added a team-high nine blocks. Playing Mater Dei at home on Saturday night may give Torrey Pines a slight edge, but the Monarchs have won tough road matches before.
Emily Fitzner & Daniela Fornaciari of state-ranked and nationally ranked San Diego Torrey Pines defend the net in recent match. Photo: Anna Scipione/@TorreyPinesHS.
2. (2) Mater Dei (Santa Ana) 36-5
The Monarchs lost in their fourth set to Marymount of Los Angeles 25-10 before winning in the fifth 15-8. Junior outside hitter Natalie Berty topped the team with 16 kills with Kelsey Campeau (22 digs) also doing well. They won in their Open Division regional quarterfinal over Cathedral Catholic of San Diego. Mater Dei hasn’t played Torrey Pines this season but has gone 1-0 vs. Mitty while the Falcons are 2-1 vs. Mitty.
3. (3) Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) 36-5
After cruising past St. Francis of Sacramento in the first NorCal match, the Monarchs advanced to the CIF NorCal Open Division final with a 3-1 win over league rival St. Ignatius of San Francisco. The Wildcats nearly won in the first two sets they lost and won one set but faltered 25-10 in the fourth set. Julia Devine had 19 kills, Kamrin Caoili had 16 kills and Nicole Liddle had 14 kills for the Monarchs. They are the defending CIF Open Division champions and will now play Marin Catholic on Saturday at home looking for a win to send them down to Southern California for the state finals once again.
4. (7) Marin Catholic (Kentfield) 32-4
This is the week to move up the Wildcats into the fourth spot despite obvious strength of schedule advantages for both Marymount and Redondo. They do have a shot at knocking off Mitty in the NorCal Open Division and two of their other four losses are to national top 10 teams Assumption of Louisville, Ky., and Xavier Prep of Phoenix, Ariz. In MC’s 25-21, 22-25, 25-23, 25-10 victory against Turlock in the NorCal Open semis, Riley Ramsey had 20 kills and 26 digs while 6-foot-6 soph Kari Geissberger had 17 kills and a match-high seven blocks.
5. (4) Marymount (Los Angeles) 31-9*
Devon Newberry was terrific with a match-high 22 kills during the Sailors’ five-set loss to No. 2 Mater Dei in Tuesday’s CIF Open Division regional semifinals. Marymount, which rolled over previous No. 6 Central of Fresno in its first Open Division match, played Mater Dei three times this season and twice within 10 days. The Sailors won the first match, then lost the next two. They will likely end with a No. 4 final state ranking.
6. (5) Redondo Union (Redondo Beach) 35-6*
Scores for the Seahawks’ loss to Torrey Pines shows how close they came to getting the win (we won’t call it an upset): 25-18, 17-25, 25-16, 8-25, 18-16. In their first CIF Open Division outing, Redondo defeated Canyon Crest Academy of San Diego.
Devon Chang had a lot to shout about last season as her team at Santa Margarita won CIF Southern Section Division I title and she was State Junior of the Year. Photo: FloVolleyball.tv
7. (8) Santa Margarita (Rancho SM) 33-9
Once the Eagles became destined for the CIF D1 state playoffs by virtue of losing in the CIF Southern Section D1 quarterfinals to Redondo, they became a big favorite. They haven’t disappointed. Santa Margarita swept Bishop’s of La Jolla on Tuesday in the regional semifinals 25-16, 25-15, 25-13 behind Devon Chang (34 assists) and Ashley Chow (16 kills). The Eagles will now face San Juan Hills in the D1 South championship on Saturday.
8. (9) Canyon Crest Academy (San Diego) 25-10*
At this point in the rankings, we’re looking at CIF Open Division teams that lost in the first round. In its case, Canyon Crest fell to No. 6 Redondo. They stay ahead of both Corona del Mar and Cathedral Catholic (two other CIF SoCal Open Division teams) due to head-to-head victories against both teams.
9. (14) Cathedral Catholic (San Diego) 23-8*
The Dons will have to finish ahead of No. 10 Corona del Mar in the final rankings due to owning a head-to-head win over the Sea Kings at the Santa Barbara TOC. They lost in the first round of the CIF SoCal Open Division to No. 2 Mater Dei.
10. (10) Corona del Mar (Newport Beach) 22-8*
Although Cathedral Catholic had to go up this week, the Sea Kings ended up not dropping in this week’s rankings since previous No. 6 Central of Fresno also was falling down behind them. Corona del Mar, which did post a win over Marymount during the season, was ousted in the CIF SoCal Open Division playoffs by No. 1 Torrey Pines.
11. (6) Central (Fresno) 40-3*
The lopsided nature of the Grizzlies’ loss to Marymount in the CIF SoCal Open Division has to drop them behind the other three teams that also lost in the first round of that bracket. Winning tourney titles and beating the Clovis Unified schools to win the CIF Central Section D1 title, however, was still impressive.
12. (11) Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth) 36-7
Head coach Stefanie Wigfall’s squad is moving through the CIF D2 South bracket as expected, but is facing a familiar foe in Saturday’s regional final. After getting past Sage Hill of Newport Beach on Tuesday, Sierra Canyon faces a La Salle of Pasadena squad that beat the Trailblazers early in the season but lost in the CIFSS D3 playoffs. The team also has to continue to stay behind Central of Fresno due to head-to-head loss.
13. (12) St. Ignatius (San Francisco) 34-10*
It ended up being five losses on the season for the Wildcats against league rival Archbishop Mitty. They earned another matchup with the Monarchs in the NorCal Open Division semifinals with a first-round triumph over state No. 16 Monte Vista of Danville. Coach David Huan’s squad also lost games this season to both Redondo and Marymount in addition to Marin Catholic.
14. (20) San Juan Hills 26-13
The Stallions started to show they might be a force late in the season with CIFSS D1 playoffs wins against Los Alamitos and Lakewood. They have won SoCal D1 regional matches so far against Granada Hills, Garces of Bakersfield and Long Beach Poly and will go for the upset at state No. 7 Santa Margarita on Saturday.
15. (16) Temecula Valley (Temecula) 29-4*
This is still the highest ranked team that was upset early in the CIFSS D1 playoffs, but did enough throughout the rest of its matches to remain in the rankings. When those playoffs began, the Golden Bears were the third seed and were higher than others such as Santa Margarita, Redondo and Corona del Mar.
16. (13) Monte Vista (Danville) 34-3*
Winning the CIF North Coast Section D1 crown over James Logan of Union City will help the Mustangs’ final state ranking if Logan keeps winning the D1 state bracket. Monte Vista had to go to the Open Division and lost in a first-round regional match to St. Ignatius of San Francisco as a No. 5 seed on the road against No. 4.
17. (18) Turlock 34-9*
The dream season for the Bulldogs continued in the opening round of the CIF NorCal Open Division playoffs when they excited the home crowd with a victory over Menlo School of Atherton. Turlock then had to play at Marin Catholic in the semifinals, but could only get one game off of the Wildcats.
18. (NR) James Logan (Union City) 39-4
The Colts weren’t eligible for the NorCal Open Division, but were the top seed for the NorCal D1 bracket and have advanced to the final with NorCal playoff wins against Cosumnes Oaks of Elk Grove, Pleasant Grove of Elk Grove and Burlingame. They will host Sacred Heart Cathedral in Saturday’s D1 regional final.
19. (19) Menlo School (Atherton) 29-6
The Knights didn’t lose by much in their trip to Turlock for the NorCal Open Division playoffs. They also have to remain in front of Sacred Heart Cathedral thanks to their win over the Irish in the CCS Open Division.
20. (NR) Sacred Heart Cathedral (San Francisco) 25-12
Similar to SF rival St. Ignatius, the Irish have lost a lot of matches to Mitty and also to the Wildcats. They’re still going, however, and are just four teams left in the hunt for the CIF D1 state title. SHC will play James Logan in the NorCal final on Saturday after downing Branson of Ross in Tuesday’s regional semifinals.
TEAMS THAT DROPPED OUT:
Previous No. 15 Long Beach Poly; No. 17 Lakewood.
TEAMS ON THE BUBBLE
Bishop’s (La Jolla) 25-8
Branson (Ross) 25-7
Buchanan (Clovis) 34-8*
Carlmont (Belmont) 33-4
Culver City 31-2*
Edison (Huntington Beach) 16-11*
Foothill (Tustin) 21-6*
Harvard-Westlake (North Hollywood) 19-11*
Huntington Beach 26-8*
JSerra (San Juan Capistrano) 19-7*
La Costa Canyon (Carlsbad) 18-14*
Lakewood 23-5*
La Salle (Pasadena) 28-6
Liberty (Bakersfield) 22-9*
Long Beach Poly (Long Beach) 30-7*
Los Alamitos 22-11*
Mira Costa (Manhattan Beach) 11-12*
Ponderosa (Shingle Springs) 34-5*
Rancho Cucamonga 23-10*
Santiago (Corona) 32-7*
St. Francis (Mountain View) 23-14*
St. Francis (Sacramento) 33-9*
Valley Christian (San Jose) 21-13
Vista Murrieta (Murrieta) 18-8*
*Season complete.
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
