Girls volleyball: Area teams secure playoff spots; others still vying for automatic berths
See which girls volleyball teams have locked up league titles, and which ones are still playing for a postseason berth this week.
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The final week of regular-season prep volleyball is wrapping up, which means hammering out the final details of league titles and playoff seedings.
Sierra Canyon, which played in the Mission League for the first time this season, is the co-champion alongside Marymount. But, if the Trailblazers beat Marlborough on Wednesday, they’ll secure the top playoff seed.
Sierra Canyon’s only loss is to Marymount and vice versa. Because the Trailblazers won by sweep and the Sailors needed four sets, that serves as a tiebreaker for which team represents the league No. 1 team. It also means the Trailblazers are likely to earn a higher seed in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs.
“It was really important to us to establish early that we belong in this league,” Sierra Canyon coach Stefanie Wigfall said. “In our first year, we’ve not only done that, but we’ve also claimed one of the top spots and took down a program that has resided in the top spot by themselves for quite some time.”
The section will release the playoff pairings online Saturday morning at 11 a.m. at CIFSS.org.
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Alemany earned the third automatic bid from the Mission League, and Harvard-Westlake could earn an at-large bid.
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Oaks Christian won the Marmonte League title by sweeping every single league opponent. Newbury Park sits in second place at 6-4, earning the Panthers an automatic berth. Thousand Oaks and Westlake both finished 5-5, but the Lancers get dibs on the automatic bid after beating the Warriors twice this season.
The Canyon League title is yet to be determined. It’ll come down to Wednesday night’s match between Simi Valley and Royal. They’re both 6-1 with the Highlanders’ only league loss of the season to the Pioneers and Simi Valley’s only loss to Camarillo.
Oak Park sits in third place behind them with a 3-5 Canyon League record.
In the Foothill League, there are more remaining matches on the docket this season than usual after multiple schools in the Santa Clarita Valley had to reschedule due to a Los Angeles County heat advisory and lack of air conditioning in school gyms.
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If Saugus wins the next three matches, it’ll win the league title outright. If it wins two out of the three, they’ll claim at least a share.
Chaminade won the Angelus League title on Monday night when it swept Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy. The Eagles finished the league season 6-1 with only one loss to FSHA. Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks took the No. 3 spot in the Angelus League.
Note: The Los Angeles City Section has pushed back the last allowable contest date for girls volleyball to October 18. A shortage of officials caused matches to be rescheduled. The playoff pairings are expected to be announced on October 20 at 8 p.m.