Minutes after knocking out national No. 3 Redondo from the CIF Southern Section D1 playoffs, players from Marymount (Los Angeles) gather for photo. The Sailors face defending champion Mater Dei in Saturday’s championship at Cerritos College. Photo: @MHSLAAthletics / Twitter.com.
No. 1 Mater Dei and No. 3 Marymount are all set for the CIF Southern Section Division I championship, but as of Wednesday afternoon when these rankings were released No. 2 Torrey Pines and No. 5 Cathedral Catholic still had to win one more match to reach the CIF San Diego Section Open Division final. All CIF regional playoff pairings and seedings will be announced Sunday after all of the various section titles are decided.
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(Previous rank in parentheses)
(After matches of Tuesday, Oct. 30)
1. (1) Mater Dei (Santa Ana) 38-2
After getting past previous No. 6 Sierra Canyon in last Saturday’s CIF Southern Section Division I semifinals, the Monarchs will attempt to win their second straight section title this Saturday at Cerritos College against new No. 3 Marymount of Los Angeles. Mater Dei also is trying for its third CIFSS crown in the last four years.
2. (3) Torrey Pines (San Diego) 30-3
With a 2-0 record against Marymount even though that team’s top player wasn’t in the lineup, we’re going to place the Falcons in the second position of the state for this week. A 2-0 record in head-to-head matches counts for something. This ranking also doesn’t include Wednesday night semifinals in the CIF San Diego Section Open Division. The Falcons are/were scheduled to play new No. 14 Scripps Ranch.
3. (5) Marymount (Los Angeles) 32-8
USA Beach Volleyball standout Devon Newberry hammered down 24 kills to lead the Sailors past previous No. 2 Redondo in the CIFSS D1 semifinals. Newberry is the one who’s missed games due to Team USA commitments. If she doesn’t miss any more, this could be your CIF Open Division state champs and another step towards that comes Saturday in the CIFSS D1 finals vs. No. 1 Mater Dei. The only time Marymount has won the top division of the CIFSS playoffs was in 2012, which also was the program’s last section title. Next Sunday’s CIF SoCal Open Division seedings also will carry some weight in next week’s rankings should Marymount defeat Mater Dei.
4. (2) Redondo Union (Redondo Beach)
34-3
The Seahawks couldn’t keep up with Marymount in the CIFSS D1 semifinals last Saturday and lost in four games. They still have a chance to win the CIF Open Division state title and will be in the CIF SoCal Open Division where they could draw Marymount again but also may require a win on the road against the top CIF San Diego Section squad.
5. (4) Cathedral Catholic (San Diego) 26-6
With Marymount going up after its win over Redondo, we also didn’t want to drop Redondo lower than the Dons so it ended up being a one-spot drop for them in this week’s rankings. With these top five, there doesn’t seem to be too much of a difference. Cathedral Catholic is facing Bishop’s of La Jolla in Wednesday’s CIF San Diego Section Open Division semifinals. The expected final has the Dons playing No. 2 Torrey Pines.
6. (7) Sacred Heart Cathedral (San Francisco) 27-6
If the Irish follow up their West Catholic Athletic League title with a championship in the CIF Central Coast Section Open Division, the odds are high they’ll also be the top seed for the CIF NorCal Open Division. It hasn’t been a breeze in the team’s first two CCS Open Division matches against Menlo School of Atherton last Saturday and then again on Tuesday of this week against Palo Alto. SHC has advanced to this weekend’s title match vs. arch-rival St. Ignatius.
7. (8) Central (Fresno) 35-4
The Grizzlies also played on Tuesday night and swept Clovis 3-0 in the CIF Central Section D1 quarterfinals. Central is expected to defeat Garces of Bakersfield in Thursday’s semifinals and then face state No. 10 Buchanan of Clovis in the championship.
8. (6) Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth) 33-10
It’s been a tough schedule for the Trailblazers, but once a team reaches double-digit losses it always has been the rule to drop that team at least a few spots in the rankings so that has happened for them. As a CIFSS D1 semifinalist, Sierra Canyon will be in the CIF SoCal Open Division and probably will be the sixth or seventh seed. A trip to play the CIF San Diego Section Open Division champion may be in the Trailblazers’ future.
9. (9) Marin Catholic (Kentfield) 34-3
Easy sweeps of Santa Rosa Piner and Sebastopol Analy have moved the Wildcats into Wednesday’s CIF North Coast Section D3 semifinals against Alhambra of Martinez. Unlike San Diego and the Southern Section, there is no Open Division in the NCS and there’s still enrollment-based divisions. Marin Catholic therefore should have little difficulty until it starts playing the following week in the CIF NorCal Open Division.
10. (10) Buchanan (Clovis) 31-7
The Bears rolled over Arroyo Grande in the CIF Central Section D1 playoffs on Tuesday and advanced to a Thursday semifinal matchup vs. Liberty of Bakersfield. It’s expected to be a third matchup between Buchanan and No. 7 Central in Saturday’s final. Central won in the first matchup but the Bears avenged that loss just before the end of the regular season.
11. (11) Foothill (Tustin) 22-4
There’s no change in this week’s rankings for several teams who lost last week in the CIFSS D1 quarterfinals, including the Knights. Their loss was to No. 3 Marymount. And like those other quarterfinalists, there’s a good chance that one of them is going to win the CIF Division I state title since the CIF has almost always chosen the four CIFSS D1 semifinalists for the CIF SoCal Open Division and then seeded the CIFSS D1 quarterfinal losers quite high in the CIF SoCal Division 1 playoffs.
12. (12) Long Beach Poly (Long Beach) 29-8
See Foothill writeup above for more about Poly’s postseason prospects as it relates to the CIF SoCal regional playoffs and ultimately the CIF D1 state crown. Poly’s loss in the CIFSS D1 quarterfinals was to No. 1 Mater Dei.
Kendall Jensen has been effective setter all season for Village Christian of Sun Valley. Photo: Dennis Oliver / VillageChristian.org.
13. (17) Scripps Ranch (San Diego) 31-5
The Falcons haven’t played as tough as schedule as previous No. 14 La Costa Canyon, but they have gotten it done in the CIF San Diego Section Open Division by advancing to Thursday’s semifinals opposite No. 2 Torrey Pines. La Costa Canyon was upset in the quarterfinals by Bishop’s of La Jolla.
14. (15) James Logan (Union City) 30-7
A win in the first round of the CIF North Coast Section Division I playoffs against Santa Rosa is expected to be followed up by a win in semifinals on Wednesday of this week against California of San Ramon. Logan was runner-up in this bracket last season and with a win in the final would then clinch a likely spot in the upcoming NorCal Open Division playoffs.
15. (13) Mira Costa (Manhattan Beach) 23-10
It’s different for the Mustangs than Foothill or LB Poly or any of the other CIFSS quarterfinalists because their loss in that bracket came in an earlier round to LB Poly. We still like their overall season resume better than two of those other quarterfinalists.
16. (18) San Juan Hills (SJ Capistrano) 17-8
Head coach Jessica Papell’s squad went 8-0 in the South Coast League, won its first CIFSS D1 playoff match over Vista Murrieta (which was top 10 in our state rankings at the time) and then lost in the quarterfinals to Redondo.
17. (19) Village Christian (Sun Valley) 34-9
The Crusaders, who have a win over Sierra Canyon mixed into their results, are playing Laguna Beach in Saturday’s CIFSS D3 championship. They defeated the Breakers 3-1 in a non-league match in September at Laguna Beach.
18. (20) Vista Murrieta (Murrieta) 26-7
The Broncos have to get rankings consideration for winning the Southwest League title in a solid year for teams from that league and for some of their other wins. Their CIFSS D1 playoff loss was to San Juan Hills.
19. (NR) St. Francis (Sacramento) 32-4
Regarded as the team to beat in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section all season, the Troubadours won in Tuesday’s SJS D1 semifinals over Pleasant Grove of Elk Grove and will now play Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills) in Saturday’s final. They also look like a top four seed for the NorCal Open Division.
20. (NR) Westlake (Westlake Village) 34-2
Although the Warriors lost early on in the CIFSS D1 playoffs, that loss was to Redondo and they have to go back into this week’s state rankings because they have a win over Trabuco Hills of Mission Viejo, which is playing Los Alamitos for the CIFSS D2 championship. Between those two finalists, we’d rank Trabuco Hills highest even though Los Al was the team that upset previous state No. 16 Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks).
Dropped Out:
Previous No. 14 La Costa Canyon (Carlsbad); No. 16 Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks).
On The Bubble
Bishop O’Dowd (Oakland) 28-6
Campolindo (Moraga) 25-7
Canyon Crest (San Diego) 20-15
Corona del Mar (Newport Beach) 24-12
Foothill (Pleasanton) 27-5
Great Oak (Temecula) 22-9
Harvard-Westlake (North Hollywood) 24-10
La Costa Canyon (Carlsbad) 25-10
Laguna Beach 18-12
Lakewood 22-12
Los Alamitos 23-13
Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks) 26-7
Palo Alto 24-5
Ponderosa (Shingle Springs) 30-2
Rancho Cucamonga 26-6
San Clemente 28-8
Santa Fe Christian (Solana Beach) 23-11
Santa Margarita (Rancho SM) 21-13
St. Ignatius (San Francisco) 27-13
Temecula Valley (Temecula) 18-10
Trabuco Hills (Mission Hills) 28-11
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
