Tars, CdM seeded for CIF Playoffs

Barry Faulkner

Newport Harbor High and Corona del Mar are seeded No. 1 and No. 3,

respectively, in their divisions for the CIF Southern Section girls

volleyball playoffs, the pairings for which were released Sunday at

the section office.

Coach Dan Glenn’s Sailors (22-6), champions of the Sea View League

for the ninth time in 10 seasons, will open play in Division II-AA

Thursday at 7 p.m. at home against the winner of Tuesday’s wild-card

match between Norco (11-5) and Sultana (12-3).

Coach Bill Christiansen’s Sea Kings (17-8), champions of the

Pacific Coast League for the third time in four years, host either

Northview (8-7) or Azusa (8-8) in Thursday’s Division III-A first

round.

Costa Mesa (13-2), which won the Golden West League to claim the

program’s first league title, returns to the playoffs for the first

time since 1998. Coach Allison Salladin’s Mustangs will host the

winner of Tuesday’s wild-card match between Desert Hot Springs (10-5)

and Tesoro (16-7).

Newport Harbor and CdM are each competing for their seventh

Southern Section title. The Sailors have been to 10 section finals,

while the Sea Kings have been to 12.

The Sailors, who lost to Mira Costa in the Division II-AA title

match last fall, are paced by 6-foot-3 senior middle blocker Kristin

McClune. A first-team All-CIF Division II performer as a junior,

McClune pounded a match-high 33 kills to lead the visiting Sailors to

a 5-15, 15-9, 6-15, 15-13, 17-15 nonleague victory over Back Bay

rival CdM Friday night. Alyson Jennings, a 5-8 junior, is another

standout for the Tars.

If victorious Thursday, the Sailors would face either La Mirada,

the runner-up in the Suburban League, or Cathedral City, the No. 2

representative from the Desert Valley League, in Saturday’s

quarterfinals.

The Division II-AA semifinals are scheduled Nov. 19, with No.

4-seeded El Dorado, which tied for second in the Century League, a

possible foe.

Westlake (19-3) is the No. 2 seed and Woodbridge (13-12), which

the Sailors handled in Sea View competition, is seeded No. 3. Title

matches in all divisions will be either Nov. 22 or 23 at Cypress

College.

Corona del Mar, which went 10-0 in the PCL, would likely face

unbeaten Santa Ynez. the champion of the Los Padres League, in

Saturday’s Division III-A quarterfinals.

With two playoff victories, CdM would likely meet Harvard-Westlake

(20-4), the No. 2 seed and the champion of the Mission League, in the

Nov. 19 semifinals. The Wolverines, defending III-A champions, have

won five section championships in the last seven years, including the

last two, and have played for a section title four straight years and

six of the last seven.

Bishop Montgomery, runner up in the Serra League to Mater Dei, the

No. 1 seed in Division II-A, is also a strong presence in the III-A

bracket. The Knights have advanced to the Southern Section division

final nine of the last 10 seasons and won five titles during that

stretch. They open Thursday on the road against top-seeded South El

Monte (14-2).

Bishop Montgomery, featuring 6-0 senior middle blocker Noelle

Quinn, who will play volleyball and basketball next year at UCLA,

eliminated CdM the last two seasons in the semifinals (III-A last

season and III-AA in 2000).

If victorious Thursday, Costa Mesa would visit Bishop Montgomery

in Saturday’s quarterfinal round.

CdM is led by senior middle blocker Claire Allen (a team-high 21

kills against Newport Harbor).

Costa Mesa’s best player all season has been senior middle blocker

Sharon Day.

Notre Dame Academy is the No. 4 seed in Division III-A.

The top two finishers in each division will advance to the CIF

State Playoffs.