The CIF boys water polo playoffs will feature some fresh faces of boys, and girls, when matches start Tuesday.
Sage Hill will return to the postseason after a four-year absence when it takes its squad, featuring two girls, to Alhambra for a Division 3 wild-card match. The game is scheduled for Granada Park in Alhambra at 5 p.m.
Coach Tom Norton’s team includes junior goalie Rachael Jaffe and sophomore attacker Paige Solaas.
The girls can play on the Sage Hill boys team because the small, private school in Newport Coast doesn’t offer a girls water polo team, Southern Section assistant commissioner Kristine Palle confirmed.
Jaffe splits time in goal while Solaas is one of the first two reserves to enter matches for the Lightning, Norton said.
“They both know the game as well as the boys,” Norton said. “Paige is a good swimmer and counter-attacker. Rachael does not back down even with the hardest shooters.”
The Lightning finished 3-2 in the Orange Coast League for third place behind champion Laguna Beach, ranked No. 1 in Division 3, and runner-up Costa Mesa.
Sage Hill is led by Corona del Mar transfer Harry Miller, Chris Wan, goalie Zack Drobenko and his brother, Zane, a freshman.
The winner of the Sage Hill-Alhambra match plays at No. 2-seeded Murrieta Valley in the first round on Wednesday. Alhambra finished third in the Almont League. …
GoLivepolo.com will live stream the CIF Division 1 semifinals on Nov. 19 at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. The matches from the Woollett Aquatics Center in Irvine will be free to view. The finals Nov. 22 in Irvine will stream live on pay-per-view on the NFHS Network and will be free the next day, the Southern Section said.
– DAN ALBANO
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
Mater Dei’s Payton Chang and Aliso Niguel’s Lindsey Ruddins earned second-team All-America honors from the American Volleyball Coaches Association.
Chang, a senior setter, is headed to Stanford. Ruddins, a senior outside hitter, is headed to UC Santa Barbara. …
There have been some time changes for a few of tonight’s matches in the first round of the CIF-SS playoffs. In Division 1A, Trabuco Hills’ match at Citrus Valley of Redlands will begin at 5 p.m., as will Esperanza’s home match against Monrovia in Division 2AA and Tarbut V’Torah’s home match against Calvary Christian of Oxnard in 5A.
Canyon will host Santa Barbara at 6 p.m. in 1A. Brea Olinda will host Westridge of Pasadena at 6 p.m. in 2AA and so will Loara in 4AA against visiting Nordhoff of Ojai.
Western’s match against Windward of Los Angeles will start at 7:30 p.m. in 2A.
Normal start time for CIF-SS playoff matches is 7 p.m.
– DAMIAN CALHOUN
CROSS COUNTRY
Dana Hills’ boys cross country team has been waiting to get to full strength for most of the season. With the CIF Prelims on the horizon, it looks as though that moment has finally come.
Jake Ogden appears to be over a muscular skeletal strain which kept him out until mid-October. The junior ran a 14:35 to lead the Dolphins’ impressive 16-55 victory last week over El Toro in the South Coast League Finals.
Ogden wasn’t fully recoveredwhen he returned from his injury at the Orange County Championships at Irvine Regional Park, but he improved his time on the course by 16 seconds on Thursday. …
Laguna Hills twins Brianna (17:08) and Marissa Bartello (17:27) grabbed the top two spots on the girls side, but it was not enough to challenge No. 1 Capistrano Valley, which won the team title, 38-52, over Trabuco Hills.
Enrique Serna (15:22) and Alexis Cardenas (18:58) topped their respective fields as Loara captured both individual crowns last week at the Golden West League Finals. …
St. Margaret’s Collin Price (15:03) dominated the competition in the Academy League Finals, winning the race by 39 seconds to lead the Tartans (32 points) to the boys team championship. Crean Lutheran finished second with 47 points.
The Saints were able to secure the girls title by placing three runners in the top five. Sage Hill’s Julia Lowe won the girls meet with a time of 19:05.
– ANDREW TURNER, Contributing writer
GIRLS GOLF
Mater Dei senior Jakeishya Le, Yorba Linda senior Brooke Graebe and Foothill junior Madie Chou will each make their third consecutive appearance in the WSCGA So Cal Championship on Thursday at Arrowhead Country Club in San Bernardino.
All three players earned a spot in the field for the CIF State championship qualifier by finishing in the top 11 of the CIF-SS Individual championship last week.
Chou placed the highest among the three, shooting an even-par 72 at Western Hills to tie for seventh. Le posted a 73, which put her in a tie for ninth, while Graebe finished tied for 11th with a 74.
“(Making a third consecutive start) is definitely a big accomplishment,” Chou said. “My goal is to make it to state every year, and to do that, you have to make there (So Cal Championships) first.”
To get to state for the third year in a row, Graebe will have to be among the top nine individuals on Thursday.
– DAMIAN DOTTORE
