Mater Dei’s girls volleyball team is one victory away from making a third consecutive trip to the CIF-SS Division 1AA finals.
Standing in the Monarchs’ way is second-seeded Great Oak of Temecula. The teams meet Tuesday in a semifinals match at Mater Dei at 7 p.m.
The teams met last month in the California Challenge tournament. Great Oak won the best-of-three match, 25-23, 25-23.
In the other Division 1AA semifinal, Huntington Beach will be on the road against top-seeded Redondo Union.
Saddleback Valley Christian (Division 3A) is off to a great start in the playoffs as it tries to win a third consecutive CIF title. SVC has yet to drop a set entering tonight’s semifinal match at Loma Linda Academy.
For the Division 1A semifinals, Trabuco Hills’ match at Santiago of Corona begins at 6 p.m.
The CIF-SS finals take place Friday and Saturday. The finals schedule should be finalized Wednesday. The finals will be played at Rio Hondo and Cerritos colleges.
– DAMIAN CALHOUN
GIRLS TENNIS
The CIF USTA Regional tennis bracket was released over the weekend, and three local schools were chosen to compete in this week’s 16-team tournament.
Corona del Mar, Dana Hills and Northwood were all awarded bids to the Southern California championships that begins today and continues Friday with second round and semifinal play. The championship match is Saturday afternoon at the Claremont Club.
CdM and Dana Hills are the fifth and seventh seeds respectively, and they’ll play home matches today. The Sea Kings will host Stockdale of Bakersfield and the Dolphins will take on Granada Hills at the Laguna Niguel Racquet Club.
Northwood will travel to Clovis to play Buchanan.
From the second round on, all matches will be hosted at the Claremont Club.
CROSS COUNTRY
The stage has been set for Saturday’s CIF-SS Cross Country Finals at Mt. San Antonio College.
There were few surprises at last week’s CIF-SS Prelims in Riverside, although a few runners did live life on the edge.
One such case was UCLA commit Cassie Durgy, who squeaked into the finals with the 12th spot in Division 1. Up to five individuals could qualify from each of the two heats in a division as long as they finished in the top 12. The Huntington Beach senior extended her season by a mere six seconds.
Crean Lutheran’s boys received a big-time performance from Craig Odenwald to nab the eighth spot in their heat. Odenwald ran a 15:39, and his top-10 finish helped the Saints advance over Alemany of Mission Hills, 205-211.
Canyon’s boys finished second in their heat, but the Comanches were not at full strength. Their No. 3 runner, Dalton Tanner, missed the race because of a bout of strep throat. He is expected to be out 10 days, which makes him unlikely to compete in the CIF Finals.
The county will be sending 36 teams and 13 individuals to Mt. SAC for the finals on Saturday.
(Click here to see a complete list of O.C. qualifiers — teams and indidivuals) …
According to CIF officials, Saturday’s meet at the Riverside City Cross Country Course was the first time that the Southern Section’s cross country preliminaries had been held at a location other than Mt. SAC since at least 1980.
With the Mt. SAC course undergoing construction for the next two years, Saturday’s races were viewed as a test run for future CIF Finals meets. The initial reaction from the competitors and the coaches was not one of ringing endorsement.
Clouds of dust kicked up with every step. Although the course was largely flat, allowing for a true representation of the fastest teams, the course was repeatedly called dusty, and by some accounts, unsuitable for a meet of its magnitude.
– ANDREW TURNER, Contributing writer
BOYS GOLF
Clay Feagler, the Register’s boys golfer of the year last season, signed his letter of intent with Pepperdine, his mother Caryn Feagler said.
Last season, Feagler posted a 1-under-par 71 at Talega Golf Club to help the Dolphins win the CIF-SS South Coast Team Regional. He followed that with another 71 at Mission Lakes Country Club in Desert Hot Springs to win the CIF-SS Individual championship.
– DAMIAN DOTTORE
– KENNY CONNOLLY
BOYS WATER POLO
One of the best bargains for water polo fans arrives Wednesday with six CIF boys semifinal matches at the Woollett Aquatics Center in Irvine.
Aquatics enthusiasts can watch the Southern Section semifinals in Divisions 1, 2 and 3 for a single admission price. General admission tickets will be $10 and students are $5 with ASB card.
The lineup at the two-pool complex begins at 3:30 p.m. with the Division 3 semifinals: defending champion Laguna Beach-Capistrano Valley and top-seeded Murrieta Valley-Montebello.
At 5 p.m., the Division 1 semifinal between defending champion Harvard-Westlake of Studio City and Huntington Beach begins along with the Dana Hills-Mira Costa of Manhattan Beach semifinal in Division 2.
At 6:30 p.m., the ball drops for the Foothill-Damien of La Verne semifinal in Division 2. The Knights are the top seed and defending champion.
The Division 1 semifinal between No. 1 seeded Mater Dei and Loyola of Los Angeles takes the final slot with a 7 p.m. start.
All of the championship games are Saturday at Woollett. …
The Division 1 quarterfinal between Orange Lutheran and Huntington Beach on Saturday was emotional because of the players’ former club affiliation, Oilers coach Sasa Branisavljevic said.
Three players on Orange Lutheran used to play club with several players from Huntington Beach, which won, 10-9, in overtime.
“These boys are playing against each other now,” Branisavljevic said. “It’s making the competition better. They know each other very well and the rivalry is there.” …
El Toro attacker Aaron Leighton has committed to Wagner College in New York, which is starting a men’s program.
– DAN ALBANO
