SBLive's California Top 20 girls volleyball rankings: Playoff time is here

Playoff time has begun for most sections. Early-round action has mostly played to form, with powerhouse matchups coming this week and next.

The highly-anticipated Southern Section Division 1 pool play began. Top seeds Mira Costa-Manhattan Beach, Sierra Canyon-Chatsworth, Marymount-Los Angeles and Mater Dei-Santa Ana were all comfortable winners. 

In the other SS divisions, D2 favorites Redondo Union-Redondo Beach, Aliso Niguel-Aliso Viejo and Vista Murrieta-Murrieta advanced. Division leaders include Bishop Alemany-Mission Hills in D3, Saugus-Santa Clarita in D4, Quartz Hill-Lancaster in D5, Simi Valley in D6, United Christian Academy-Rancho Cucamonga in D8 and Academy for Academic Excellence-Apple Valley in D9. 

CHECK ALL CIF PLAYOFF BRACKETS

In D7, the Coachella Valley-Thermal Arabs were upended by Trinity Classical Academy-Valencia.

In the Central Section, top seeds are Clovis East-Clovis in D1, Buchanan-Clovis in D2, Kingsburg in D3, Mammoth-Mammoth Lakes in D4, McFarland in D5 and Dos Palos in D6.

In the North Coast Section, favorites are Monte Vista-Danville in D1, Campolindo-Moraga in D2, Branson-Ross in D3, Marin Academy-San Rafael in D4, Urban-San Francisco in D5 and Waldorf-San Francisco in D6.

In the Northern Section, top teams in each division are Pleasant Valley-Chico, West Valley-Cottonwood, University Prep-Redding, Trinity-Weaverville, Fall River-McArthur and Maxwell.

Los Angeles Section leaders are Granada Hills Charter-Granada Hills, Birmingham-Van Nuys, Legacy-South Gate, Gala-Los Angeles, Rancho Dominguez-Los Angeles and Belmont-Los Angeles.

In the San Joaquin Section, top seeds are St. Mary’s-Stockton, Whitney-Rocklin, Escalon, Sonora, Ripon Christian-Ripon and Forest Lake Christian-Auburn.

Other sections will select teams and set brackets this week.

SBLive's California girls volleyball rankings (records thru Oct. 22)

1. Cathedral Catholic-San Diego (San Diego Section, 35-0 overall record, No. 1 last week)
Dons smashed a strong Torrey Pines team 25-9, 25-14, 25-9 to continue their unbeaten season and still have not dropped a set all year. Julia Blyashov had 18 kills in 30 attempts with just two errors for an amazing .533 attack percentage. Noemi Glover added nine kills in 10 attempts. Amanda Saeger dished 30 assists and Maya Evens had 11 digs.

2. Mira Costa (Southern Section, 34-3, No. 2 LW)
Mustangs began SS playoffs with 25-22, 25-22, 25-16 win over Lakewood. Drew Wright had 12 kills and Tanon Rosenthal added 10. Two sprained ankles in 15 minutes (Chloe Hynes, Bryn Shankle) will test Mustangs’ depth but Erin Inskeep moving to all-around is part of team’s plan.

3. Marymount (SS, 30-6, No. 3 LW)
Sailors bounced Huntington Beach 25-21, 25-22, 25-17 as Torrey Stafford delivered 19 kills and a .429 attack percentage and Kate Martin added 11 kills with a .417 percentage. Lauren Brooker set her teammates for 30 assists and Alexa Trapani had 10 digs.

4. Sierra Canyon (SS, 30-4, No. 4 LW)
Olivia Babcock ripped 12 kills as the Trailblazers dominated a good Newport Harbor-Newport Beach squad 25-19, 25-9, 25-12.

5. St. Francis-Mountain View (CCS, 27-0, No. 5 LW)
Lancers swept St. Ignatius-San Francisco on the road and Valley Christian-San Jose at home. St. Francis now closes the regular season with a visit to rival Archbishop Mitty-San Jose.

6. Mater Dei (SS, 27-8, No. 9 LW)
At the Meruelo Athletic Center on campus, in front of the big red curtain, Monarchs defeated Palos Verdes-Palos Verdes Estates 25-16, 15-25, 25-18, 25-19. Isabel Clark led with 14 kills and 16 digs.

7. Lakewood (SS, 28-7, No. 7 LW)
Lancers gave Mira Costa a battle in competitive loss. Fatima Hall led Lakewood with 20 assists and four kills. Samarah DeCoud had seven kills and Jade Epps contributed five kills and two blocks.

8. Palos Verdes (SS, 19-6, No. 6 LW)
Mira Costa coach Cam Green says this is the best PV team they’ve ever had. PV coach Patrick Lynch concurs. Sea Kings feature setter Tatum Lane, libero Meg Walsh, a great middle in Melanie Tilles and excellent outsides in Kaci Demaria and Kendall Beshear. Solid season featured first win at Redondo since 2011.

9. Redondo Union (SS, 27-11, No. 8 LW)
Sea Hawks opened SS Division 2 playoffs with sweeps of South Torrance 25-11, 25-14, 25-14 and Foothill-Santa Ana 25-19, 25-20, 25-19. Tough tests come now, beginning with quarterfinal matchup against Los Alamitos.

10. Torrey Pines-San Diego (SDS, 24-8, No. 10 LW)
Cathedral Catholic drilled the Falcons but Torrey Pines rebounded to drop La Costa Canyon on the road 25-23, 26-28, 25-20, 16-25, 15-11. Nikki King dished for 50 assists and Kiara Edwards bashed 16 kills, with Fin Krystkowiak and Grace Flanagan each adding 10 kills. Katerina Lutz contributed 37 digs and three aces.

11. Archbishop Mitty (CCS, 26-6, No. 11 LW)
Audrey Liddle and the Monarchs swept St. Ignatius, Presentation-San Jose and Sacred Heart Cathedral-San Francisco and are eager to get another shot at rival St. Francis this week. Previous league loss to Lancers was only 25-21, 25-23, 25-23.

12. San Ramon Valley-Danville (NCS, 23-7, No. 15 LW)
Wolves defeated Monte Vista-Danville 28-30, 25-20, 19-25, 25-20, 15-13 in match to decide the East Bay Athletic League title. SRV also beat strong Foothill-Pleasanton team 25-23, 18-25, 16-25, 25-22, 15-9.

13. San Clemente (SS, 24-9, No. 12 LW)
Tritons captured two D2 playoff thrillers on road, beating Ontario Christian in five sets after dropping the first two sets, and then edging Cypress with a five-setter capped by an 18-16 decider.

14. Bishop Alemany (SS, 22-6, No. 14 LW)
Warriors rolling in playoffs, with road win at Mayfield-Pasadena and home sweep of Millikan-Long Beach.

15. Clovis East-Clovis (CS, 35-4, No. 16 LW)
Timberwolves picked up wins over Clovis and Central-Fresno to capture Tri-River League title.

16. Huntington Beach (SS, 26-6, No. 18 LW)
Oilers gave Marymount quite a battle, losing 25-21, 25-22, 25-17.

17. Monte Vista-Danville (NCS, 23-4, No. 13 LW)
Mustangs lost five-set deuce thriller to SRV but rebounded to defeat Amador Valley-Pleasanton with dramatic comeback on road 17-25, 23-25, 25-21, 25-14, 15-10.

18. Cypress (SS, 18-1, No. 20 LW)
Centurions’ playoff loss to San Clemente was a five-setter with an 18-16 decider. Washington beach-commit Zoey Henson led Cypress with 36 kills.

19. Newport Harbor (SS, 25-6, No. 17 LW)
Sailors are in the SS D1, which is SS’ top eight, but loss to Sierra Canyon was one-sided 25-19, 25-9, 25-12. Can Newport Harbor rebound in the rest of pool play?

20. Oak Ridge-El Dorado Hills (SJS, 27-4, No. 14 LW)
Trojans won Sierra Foothill League and finished strong with sweeps of Whitney, Rocklin and Folsom. Emily Child has been on fire with big kill totals, including 17 against Folsom.

On the bubble: Whitney (SJS), Clovis North-Fresno (CS), Etiwanda (SS), Liberty (CS), Santa Cruz (CCS), San Juan Hills-San Juan Capistrano (SS), Los Altos (CCS), Sacred Heart Prep-Atherton (CCS), St. Mary’s-Stockton (SJS)

Got comments, questions or opinions? Email gordon.kass@gmail.com.