The penultimate polls for CIF Southern Section girls volleyball that were released Tuesday might reveal which eight teams will be selected to play in the Division 1 playoffs.
The top eight teams in the combined Divisions 1 and 2 poll, in order: 1. Mater Dei; 2. Mira Costa; 3. Huntington Beach; 4. Sierra Canyon; 5. Marymount; 6. Alemany; 7. Los Alamitos; 8. Palos Verdes. The CIF Southern Section places its Divisions 1 and 2 teams together in its rankings, then extracts the top eight teams at the end of the season to place them in the eight-team Division 1 playoff group.
Among the tams ranked 9-16 in the Divisions 1 and 2 poll are Trinity League teams JSerra, Orange Lutheran and Santa Margarita. Because only the top three finishers in a six-team league like the Trinity League, the league’s No. 4 team would have to qualify for the Division 2 playoffs as an at-large team.
JSerra, in second place with a 4-3 league record through Monday, third-place Orange Lutheran (4-4) and Santa Margarita (3-4) all have the .500-or-better overall record requited for at-large berth candidacy. Orange Lutheran was the Trinity League No. 4 team last year and was selected to the Division 2 32-team bracket that had more than enough openings for at-large teams and did have some first-round byes because the division lacked 32 qualifying teams.
Beckman is No. 1 in the Division 1 top 10 that has South Coast League leader Dana Hills at No. 5. Capistrano Valley Christian is No. 1 in Division 4.
CIF-SS girls volleyball playoff brackets for its nine divisions will be released Saturday morning. The playoffs begin Oct. 17 for Division 2-9 with wild card-round games in divisions that need the wild-card round to reduce their fields to 32 teams for the first round. First round is Oct. 19 for Division 2-9.
Division 1 pool play begins Oct. 18 and continues Oct. 24 and 28. CIF-SS finals for all divisions are Nov. 4. The Division 1 final is at Cerritos College. Sites for other divisions will be…
Read the full article here
