Tobolski: Thoughts on the volleyball playoffs so far
May 20th, 2009, 12:23 pm · · posted by Chris Tobolski, OCVarsity.com
The postseason has lived up to the lofty expectations. Plenty of surprises and great stories.
Here’s a look at them:
Shock: The No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the final regular season top 10 poll – Newport Harbor and San Clemente – are out. All the rage was how they would have to meet in Round 2, only to have St. John Bosco end both their seasons early.
SoClose: Dana Hills. Wow. Dropping Game 5 23-21 to the No. 1 team in the country? What an incredible effort by the Dolphins. Wish I could have been there to see it.
Hot: Mater Dei. The Monarchs seem to being playing great volleyball. They swept Aliso Niguel and Corona del Mar, and host Santa Barbara next. That’s a winnable match for Mater Dei.
Early risers: Esperanza. Loaded with juniors, the Aztecs were suppossed to be really good next year. Someone forgot to let them know that. They host No. 2 seed Mira Costa in the quarterfinals after upsetting Santa Margarita.
On pace: Laguna Beach and St. Margaret’s. The Breakers have opened up with consecutive sweeps in Division II. They are the No. 1 seed. The Tartans are the No. 1 seed in Division V and have also swept their first two matches.
Under the radar: Costa Mesa. The Mustangs are in the quarterfinals of Division II after surviving a five-game thriller against Arroyo Grande, 25-18, 25-20, 23-25, 21-25, 17-15.
On its own: Cypress. The Centurions are the lone county team remaining in Division III. They host Mayfair in the quarters.
What’s ahead: Hopefully plenty more upsets. The only county teams favored in the quarterfinals are Laguna Beach and St. Margaret’s. No teams are left in Division IV. Everyone else is in the underdog role and needs to surprise to move on.
Orange Lutheran faces No. 1 Loyola. Esperanza faces No. 2 Mira Costa. Mater Dei faces No. 3 Santa Barbara. Costa Mesa, Cypress and Sage Hill are all underdogs as well.
More from the boys volleyball blog:
-
- Boys volleyball: Esperanza-Santa Margarita postgame analysis
- Boys volleyball: Esperanza beats Santa Margarita
- Boys volleyball: Esperanza captures Game 3
- Boys volleyball: Santa Margarita evens match
- Boys volleyball: Esperanza wins Game 1
- Boys volleyball: Live from Santa Margarita-Esperanza
- Boys volleyball: Division I Round 2 predictions
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No surprise that St. John Bosco upset #1 and #2 teams in O.C. Bosco is loaded with talent. Said talent is finally starting to gel after a lackluster season in the toughest league in Orange County (the Trinity League)
the Dana hills loyola game was incredible..when Dana was up 19-18 in game 5 I thought they had it..
Dana played rediculous last night. They were on top of the number one team in the nation in the fifth game, and lost in extra points. They were predicted to get shut out in three games.
It’s a bummer that we rarely got to see San Clemente play together with all 6 starters. The two tourneys they played with a full team put them in 3rd behind Loyola and Mira Costa. Getting through the playoffs without your All League/County setter and starting outside hitter would have been miraculous anyway. Bummer all around.
I want to give a huge shout out to Cypress, especially Coach Muller. He should get serious recognition for OC Coach of the Year. I know we do not have the talent of the D-I schools and all their club players, but taking a school to 17-1 and into the quarterfinals that never has won a playoff game in CIF is incredible. It’s not like we got a sudden infusion of talent, so I am guessing he has made all the difference in the world. Thanks, Coach!
Coach Muller is a great coach! He deserves all the credit in the world! Last year he was the JV coach for Saint John Bosco and now head coach at Cypress
The Trinity League top to Bottom is the toughest league in The U.S.
All three divisions are great, and there is no league that comes close …top to bottom.
I have to agree with Martin and the top post by Fletcher. Out of the last 8 Division 1 Volleyball teams standing, 3 out of 8 are from the Trinity League. It kind of makes you wonder if Bosco would have played in any other league, they more than likely would have won a league championship. I mean look at the teams they had to play,,,,,Santa Margarita (OC Top10), Mater Dei (OC Top-10) and Orange Lutheran (OC Top 10). Also all three of these teams are ranked in the top 20 Nationally as well. Both Mira Costa and Loyola play in easier leagues, at least for this season!
Loyola is stuck in a lousy volleyball league. However, scoreboard says Loyola 3-0 vs. OLutheran. It wasn’t even close.
I heard Loyola played unbelievable well and put it all together.
They certainly deserved it from the way I heard they played.
Loyola is overrated
Sometimes you gotta wonder about these CIF matchups. How does Santa Margarita (1st in trinity league) not even make it farther than the 2nd 3rd and 4th place team? Orange Lutheran had to play Palos Verdes in the 2nd round when Santa Margarita had to play Esperanza.
Did not matter some teams step it up during the CIF Play-Off’s and some stay the same. O-Lu beat Esperanza in the Semi Finals of the Orange Country Championship Tournament, Palos Verdes is a good team and they play in a very tough league.
Also Bosco took Mater Dei to 5 games when they played them at Bosco. I be asking how does Bosco beat San Clemente? Playing at home is a huge advantage during CIF. If Santa Margarita has that game vs. Esperanza at home they are the ones who play Mira Costa. I attribute some of MD’s good fortune to how many games they have had at home, They also they get Mira Costa at home as well, which will certainly help them along. It is my opinion that once they establish the final 8 teams those 4 barckets/games should all be played at one site so nobody has a home court advantage!