Girls volleyball playoffs: Division I-AA analysis and outlook
November 8th, 2009, 3:09 pm · 11 Comments · posted by Chris Tobolski, OCVarsity.com
The heavyweight division contains plenty of power hitters and only one is going to be left standing.
Here's a guide to the action:
At look at the Division I-AA playoffs (click here for the bracket):
County teams: 10 - Newport Harbor; Capo Valley; Santa Margarita; Edison; Esperanza; Orange Lutheran; San Clemente; Mater Dei; Mission Viejo; Los Alamitos
County seeds (among top four): No. 1 Newport Harbor; No. 2 Los Alamitos
Best Draw: Los Alamitos. Griffins will coast through first two rounds before possibly facing Murrieta Valley in the quarterfinals. On the other hand, Newport Harbor would meet Long Beach Poly in the quarters. I think Poly is more dangerous than Murrieta Valley.
Worst Draw: Capo Valley. The South Coast's No. 2 seed drew Long Beach Poly, the No. 3 from the Moore League. The Cougars are in for a tough one.
Best first-round match: Mater Dei and Mission Viejo are the only county teams that will play, but I like Orange Lutheran at Flintridge Sacred Heart. That's a winnable match for the Lancers, who lost a coin flip and are the Trinity League's No. 3 team.
First round outlook: 10 county teams begin, but I feel Esperanza, Mission Viejo and Capo Valley will have the shortest stay. The rest of the county teams advance.
Round of 16 outlook: This is not a good round for county teams. San Clemente, Edison, Mater Dei and Orange Lutheran all play higher seeds and will be big underdogs. Santa Margarita has no cupcake with Redondo. The Eagles won an earlier match this season against them, but it's never easy to do it again in the playoffs. Los Al and Newport will survive.
Quarterfinals outlook: The Santa Margarita-Redondo winner is likely to face No. 4 Long Beach Wilson. Newport Harbor will probably face Long Beach Poly and Los Alamitos is likely to get Murrieta Valley. I like Los Al and Newport to move on.
Semifinals: Newport Harbor-Long Beach Wilson and Los Alamitos-Mira Costa. This is where it gets interesting. I like Newport Harbor's match up against Wilson, but Los Al and Mira Costa is much tougher to call. In the sake of being a county writer, I'm taking Los Al.
Final: Newport Harbor-Los Al, Part III. As Orange County volleyball fans, let's hope so.
Comments: Los Alamitos is the No. 1 team in the county and coaches' poll, but gets the No. 2 seed because it lost the tiebreaker to Newport Harbor after the teams finished tied for first in the Sunset League. What sticks out are the powerhouses county teams might face in the next round. San Clemente could meet Lakewood. Orange Lutheran could play Mira Costa. Edison could face Long Beach Wilson and Mater Dei could get Murrieta Valley. Another big match is Santa Margarita an Redondo. That might leave three teams as the only county teams left heading into the quarterfinals. And if you enjoy watching county match ups, they aren't going to happen this year. That's a bit of a bummer.
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The bracket has a couple of odd placements.
# 2 seed Los Al does not get a bye, but # 3
and # 4 do. Have not seen that before.
Also, if you look at the latest CIFSS Coaches'
Poll, Redondo is # 7 and Santa Margarita is
# 6. I have never seen a playoff bracket where
a # 6 plays a # 7 in the 2nd round.
I know they tried to avoid teams from the same
leagueplaying each other, but the seeding
committee could have accomplished that and
not had 2 highly ranked teams play each
other that early. That should not happen
until the quarter-finals.
Jack
Great points. I thought it was odd myself that the No. 2 seed doesn't get the bye. However, I think it might favor a team to play the first round. Not playing until Thursday is a bit different than these teams are used to, so I like getting that first match in Tuesday.
Placing Santa Margarita had to be difficult, but I think they were placed in a good spot. The Eagles beat Redondo earlier this season. Plus, if they were in a different spot, they would have to play either Mira Costa, Lakewood or Wilson in the second round, so I think it's a good spot for SM.
Hi Chris,
The 2008 girls' CIF-SS playoff bracket and the 2009 boys' CIF-SS playoff bracket matched the CIF-SS Coaches' final poll almost exactly for teams ranked # 1 thru # 10. That is if you use the standard 32 team playoff bracket. The 2009 girls' bracket does not come close to matching the Coaches' poll except for # 1 thru # 4. SM ended up in the # 5 spot on the bracket and Redondo # 12 even though they are #6 and # 7 in the poll.
It looks like they put their priority on not having teams from the same league match up in the 2nd round rather than top ranked teams not matching up. I know it is impossible to seed teams 1 thru 28, but since they already have 1 thru 10 in their own poll, they should continue to use that, as they have in the recent past for both boys and girls.
Los Al needs be ready for Murrieta Valley if they get past Royal. I saw them play earlier in the season and they have the best chance of being a bracket buster.
Los Alamitos will not get past the second round. Royal High is not a O.C. team but they will put alot of these teams on the bus for the ride home.This team is seasoned and are a mission to take it all.
Scott.
That would be a big upset. No doubt Los Al can't overlook Royal, but they've played and beaten teams much stronger than Royal.
I hope Los Alomitos takes Royal litely,because Royal is out to take it all. Royal is one of the top teams in Ventura County and has only given up 3 sets in 14 leauge matches.They have an outside hitter who has given more free facials then a beauty salon.We like being the under dog.
LOS AL IS TAKEN THE CHAMPIONSHIP THIS YEAR. NO IF'S, AND'S OR BUT'S
Let me be the first to welcome Los Alamitos to Royal Highs house of pain and upsets.Unfortunely for you the road to the championship will end here for you.enjoy the ride up and home .because this will be the highlite of your trip.
i hope every one takes los al as no big deal than when we crush u you will have nothing to say
im beginning to think royal hs is just a load of hype. they haven't seen a team like los al. that wont be able to contain any of los als hitters. ESPECIALLY NOT CROSON, who is probably county player of the year.
Give credit where credit is do.Los Al is a very good team.Croson is a one girl wrecking ball. Royal was a little under sized to contend with all the six footers at the net. Go all the way Griffins.