The playoffs continue Friday. Only a handful of county teams remain in contention.

Here's look at Division I:

Teams remaining: 8

County teams alive: 3 (Orange Lutheran, Mater Dei, Esperanza)

Quarterfinal times: Friday, 7 pm (unless noted below)

Brackets: Top Half - *Loyola-Orange Lutheran; *St. John Bosco-Long Beach Wilson (Thurs. 5pm); Botom Half - Santa Barbara-*Mater Dei; Mira Costa-*Esperanza

Outlook

The Lancers are the only team to defeat Loyola in match play this year, and it came at the Cubs place. They face the challenge of repeating that task. Confidence won't be an issue. Having done it once already, combined with having a match point against Mira Costa ealier this year shows Orange Lutheran can play with and beat the big boys in Division I. Loyola looked vulnerable last round, being pushed to give games by Dana Hills before prevailing 23-21 in the decisive game.

Mater Dei-Santa Barbara

Mater Dei received a big lift by winning the coin flip and avoiding the travel headache. The Monarchs are playing great volleyball in the postseason. They are going to need to take it up to the next notch in order to advance against the Dons. Santa Barbara has lost to both Mira Costa and Loyola in five games and haven't lost to anyone else. They won't be intimidated by the situation.

Esperanza-Mira Costa

A team stacked with juniors, the Aztecs are playing with house money. They are home and can become the second team to defeat Mira Costa this season. There's no pressure on Esperanza, which is going to gain tons of valuable experience for next season from this match.

More from the boys volleyball blog:

• Tobolski: Thoughts on the volleyball playoffs so far
• 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

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