The Volleyball Spot: Eagles an Ace or Two Ahead of Everybody Else

The Orange County Championships are finished.

League play has arrived.

But before we get to that, here’s how I would rank the county top 10 as the teams begin their chase for berths in the CIF Southern Section playoffs.

1. Santa Margarita -- The Eagles just captured the OCC, and their only loss this season is to Mira Costa in the Best of the West final. They are an easy choice for the top spot.

2. Newport Harbor -- There’s a definite gap between the Sailors and Eagles, as Santa Margarita has beaten Newport Harbor twice already. However, Newport Harbor reaching the finals of the OCC earns it the second spot here.

3. Corona del Mar -- The Sea Kings ran into a hot Newport Harbor club in the semifinals of the OCC to get the third spot. Corona del Mar displayed its depth Tuesday by beating Laguna Beach without two starters, including junior outside hitter Parker Brown.

4. Mater Dei -- The Monarchs also reached the semifinals of the OCC, where they lost to Santa Margarita. It was the team’s only loss of the tournament, and Mater Dei started this week by sweeping Huntington Beach on Tuesday. Mater Dei also is the strongest serving team in the county this year, and that makes it dangerous.

5. Esperanza -- Aztecs reached the gold division bracket by defeating Laguna Beach in pool play. They also own head-to-head victories over Huntington Beach and Mission Viejo.

6. Huntington Beach -- The Oilers haven’t lost to any team ranked below them. All their losses are to the teams in the top five. Huntington Beach is young, playing three sophomores and two juniors.

7. San Clemente -- Even though the Tritons lost to Mission Viejo in pool play in the OCC and didn’t make the gold division, their overall results to this point of the season are still stronger than Mission Viejo’s. A lot can happen in a short three-game situation.

8. Mission Viejo -- The Diablos finally have a full roster and it showed over the weekend. Though the team had a rough exit in the quarterfinals against Mater Dei, it displayed plenty of positives on which to build.

9. Edison -- The Chargers also qualified for the gold division. Edison lost its first three matches this season, but appears to be getting things together as evidenced by its play in the OCC.

10. Servite -- The final spot is the toughest spot. Dana Hills could be considered for No. 10 as the Dolphins beat San Clemente and Servite at the OCC. However, Servite beat Dana Hills in a five-game match, and late silver division results aren’t as important as a five-game result.

A Look at Some League Races

The county’s deepest league is the Trinity, so let’s start there.

Santa Margarita is the obvious favorite, with Mater Dei carrying strong credentials for second place. That leaves third place and the final automatic playoff berth wide open between four teams: Servite, Orange Lutheran, St. John Bosco and JSerra.
The fourth-place team is likely to get an at-large berth, as St. John Bosco did last season. This is going to be one of the most exciting races, but it’s hard to predict which two will get in and which two won’t.

Orange Lutheran earned an impressive victory for itself by beating Valencia of Valencia in five games Tuesday night, and could be picking it up heading into league.

South Coast League -- This league became intriguing over the weekend. First, Mission Viejo beat San Clemente in pool play of the OCC. Then, Dana Hills beat San Clemente in silver division play.

The Tritons had their run of eight consecutive South Coast championships snapped last year by Dana Hills, but they also lost to Mission Viejo for the first time during Coach Ken Goldstone’s reign. When the year started, San Clemente appeared a strong favorite to recapture the league’s top spot, but after this weekend, that has to be downgraded to slight favorites. The two out of three format favors Mission Viejo and Dana Hills, whereas San Clemente has a better chance of wearing down and outlasting either team in five-game formats.

Pacific Coast League -- Corona del Mar is clearly in the driver’s seat. Beckman would have the best chance of pulling an upset. This league race is similar to the Trinity’s in that the chase for the final automatic playoff berth should be exciting. Irvine and Woodbridge have the inside track right now, but University and Northwood are capable of working their way into the postseason.

Sea View League -- The redesigned league promises to be entertaining, if nothing else. Trabuco Hills and El Toro have had strong preseasons, while Aliso Niguel, San Juan Hills and Capistrano Valley will be competitive too.

El Toro owns victories over Laguna Hills, Woodbridge and Irvine. Trabuco Hills defeated Mission Viejo, Woodbridge and Irvine. The two matches between the Mustangs and Chargers (April 12 and May 3) are likely to decide the league title.

Sunset League -- Esperanza exits to the Century League and Huntington Beach comes in to replace the Aztecs. What a league this would be if Esperanza had stayed put and the Oilers joined the fray, but that’s not the case.

Newport Harbor has to be the team to beat for no other reason than its has Cody Caldwell, the best player in the league and maybe the county. Huntington Beach and Edison are going to have two tight matches to decide second and third place, but it’s also not far-fetched to think either could upset Newport Harbor.

More Thoughts

County teams have a strong presence in CIF Southern Section Division 2 coaches' rankings this season thanks to the new releaguing cycle. At No. 1, Corona del Mar leads the back, followed by No. 2 Laguna Beach, No. 5 Trabuco Hills, No. 7 Aliso Niguel, No. 8 Beckman and No. 10 El Toro rounding out the top 10.

The coaches didn’t report in Division 1 this week, so Santa Margarita remained No. 2 behind Mira Costa, with Mater Dei at No. 4 and Huntington Beach at No. 10.

With the Orange County Championships complete, two more notable tournaments remain: the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions and the Redondo Classic.

Not very many county teams enter either, but Newport Harbor, Corona del Mar and Santa Margarita usually play at Santa Barbara, which could the the best tournament of the year because it uses best-of-five format.

Newport Harbor is in the middle of a brutal week. The Sailors faced Santa Margarita on Monday, then travel to Laguna Beach on Thursday and Mira Costa on Friday.

What would Santa Margarita do in the wake of winning the Orange County Championships? Coach Bryan Cottriel said the team would go full bore at practice Tuesday, including lifting weights. That’s called being on a mission.

Nothing quite interrupts the normal flow of league play like spring breaks, which varies by league and school district. For instance, the Trinity League takes its spring break next week. It also has Orange Lutheran and JSerra playing each other twice in six days too.

If you are a die-hard volleyball fan, start making plans for April 1. That’s when Mira Costa visits Loyola in a rematch of last year’s Division 1 final. The match is at 7 p.m. at Loyola Marymount University.

Upcoming Matches

Thursday -- San Clemente at San Juan Hills, 5:15 p.m.; Dana Hills at Mission Viejo, 5:30 p.m.; Mater Dei at St. John Bosco, 6 p.m.; Newport Harbor at Laguna Beach, 6 p.m.

Friday -- Corona del Mar at Edison, 6 p.m.; Santa Margarita at Huntington Beach 6 p.m.; Newport Harbor at Mira Costa, 7 p.m.

Tuesday -- Tesoro at San Clemente, 5:15 p.m.; Mission Viejo at Laguna Hills, 6:15 p.m.

Chris Tobolski's "The Volleyball Spot" will appear weekly on all Patch Orange County sites.