Play on in the playoffs
We have playoff action in six of the nine sections that have boys volleyball. Here are some highlights:
Southern Section
With one round of pool play remaining in Div. 1, here’s where the eight teams stand:
Pool A
Loyola 2-0
Huntington Beach 1-1
Newport Harbor 1-1
Mater Dei 0-2
Jake Pazanti had 44 assists, five kills, and 4.5 blocks and Aidan Dubno had 17 kills and three blocks in Huntington Beach’s 3-1 win over Newport in Round 2.
On Saturday, Loyola (27-1) can clinch Pool A with a win over Newport. If Newport wins and Huntington Beach loses to Mater Dei, Newport would advance to the championship match. If both Newport and Huntington win, the three-way tie would be determined by set percentage. Loyola currently is 5-2 in sets, HB is 5-4 and Newport is 4-3.
Pool B
Mira Costa 2-0
Corona del Mar 2-0
Tesoro 0-2
Edison 0-2
Victor Loiola had 23 kills in Costa’s sweep of Edison on Tuesday; Sterling Foley had 25 kills in Corona del Mar’s win over Tesoro.
Mira Costa and Corona del Mar will play a winner-take-all match on Saturday to determine the Pool B winner.
The two teams met once before, with CdM winning in four on March 25.
***
Divisions 2 through 7 have determined semifinalists.
The four teams still standing in Div. 2 are Redondo Union, Beckman, Santa Margarita Catholic, and Servite. They will play on Saturday.
OH Noah Grant had a big match as Redondo swept Dos Pueblos on the road in a Wednesday quarterfinal.
Beckman extended its long unbeaten streak with a 3-1 win at Santa Barbara.
Ethan Saint had 18 kills and freshman Chase Wallin delivered 34 assists in Santa Margarita’s sweep of Long Beach Wilson.
Finally, Servite pulled off an upset of sorts by downing San Marcos of Santa Barbara, 33-31, 18-25, 31-29, 25-23. Eamon Rigdon had 18 kills and Joaquin Rigdon delivered 46 assists for the victorious Friars.
In Div. 3, state-ranked San Clemente and St. Margaret’s are joined in the final four by El Dorado and Long Beach Poly. Max Smith had 16 kills in El Dorado’s quarterfinal win over Peninsula. Poly knocked off Fountain Valley behind 23 kills from Lucky Iosua.
In Div. 4, top-seeded Claremont was upset in five by Pasadena Poly in quarterfinal action. Poly is joined in the semis by Valencia of Valencia, West Ranch, and Murrieta Mesa, an upset winner over Harvard-Westlake.
Noah Douphner has two things to celebrate: 1,000 career kills and West Ranch still alive in the Southern Section playoffs
West Ranch is in the semifinals after going 3-9 in Foothill League play last season. The turnaround has been sparked by the play of potent junior OH Noah Douphner, who collected his 1,000th career kill in the team’s first playoff match.
In the final three divisions, the only top seed remaining is Malibu in Div. 6. The Sharks are 21-10 on the year.
Los Angeles Section
Playoff action in the Open and Div. I through V brackets has begun.
Chatsworth, Palisades, El Camino Real, and Eagle Rock have made the Open semifinals. Top-seeded Chatsworth is 4-1 collectively against everyone else in the final four. The Chancellors are the favorites, but there hasn’t been a truly dominant LAS team this year, making this title hunt wide open.
The top two seeds in Div. I and II, Venice and Birmingham, Grant and Banning are through to the semis.
San Diego Section
The eight-team Open division, playing a modified double-elimination format, saw some drama when third-seeded Cathedral Catholic swept second-seeded Carlsbad yesterday. Top-seeded Torrey Pines is through to the semifinals unscathed and will take on the winner of Saturday’s match between Del Norte and Sage Creek. Carlsbad can get another crack at Cathedral Catholic in the semifinals if the Lancers survive Westview on Saturday and would need to win twice to make the finals.
The other five divisions have seen no meaningful action as yet, with play beginning in earnest on Saturday.
North Coast Section
Foothill's boys are still alive in the NCS playoffs
The top four seeds, Foothill of Pleasanton, Castro Valley, Liberty of Brentwood, and Heritage are in the semifinals in Div. 1.
Foothill is on a roll after capping its regular season and league playoffs with wins over Amador Valley, Monte Vista, and Granada. The Falcons (27-6) are being led by setter Yun Bae and hitters Casey Collins and Kayan Vohra.
The top nine teams in Div. 1 all were ranked among the top 25 in the North Region by CIF State.
Div. 2 also has gone according to seed, with Northgate, Campolindo, De La Salle, and Alameda all through to Tuesday’s semifinals.
The same can be said for Div. 3, where top-seeded Bishop O’Dowd, the highest-ranked team in the North Region rankings, has been dominating.
Indeed, California Crosspoint in Div. 4, the No. 5 seed, is the only team outside the top four to breach the semifinals. Crosspoint edged No. 4 College Prep, 15-25, 37-35, 25-22, 33-35, 15-12.
Central Section
The Div. I playoff saw a surprise yesterday when St. Joseph of Santa Maria won the last two sets to down defending champion Clovis East in five in the first round. Top-seeded Sanger and second-seeded Clovis made the semis, as did No. 4 Buchanan.
San Luis Obispo and Arroyo Grande could be on a collision course in Div. II.
Atascadero may be in the driver’s seat in Div. III after Righett stunned top-seeded Templeton in four sets on Thursday. Righetti lost the opening set but won the final three.
Sac-Joaquin Section
The Div. 1 quarterfinals are set with all eight top seeds, led by No. 1 Jesuit and No. 2 Pleasant Grove, still in contention.
River Valley pulled off the only upset in Div. 2, downing Nevada Union. Rio Americano and Granite Bay are favored to make the final there.
No.1 Sierra and No. 2 Vanden head the eight advancing to the quarters in Div. 3.
Chalk is prevailing through the round of 16 in Div. 4, where Futures and Ben Holt College Prep are the top seeds.
Central Coast and San Francisco Sections
Playoffs begin no sooner than Monday.
News & notes
Loyola coach Michael Boehle, in his 26th season, recently earned career win No. 600. He will be inducted into the Southern California Indoor Hall of Fame on Sunday. Congrats!
College-Bound!
In this space, we list those boys players who have made a commitment to attend (or are committed to the application process to attend) a college or university of their choice and to play indoor volleyball. Please send any college commitments we may have missed (any level; scholarship or walk on) to jtawa@cifstate.org in the format below.
Grayson Albers, 6-6 Sr. OH, Rio Americano - - Cal State Northridge
Roan Alviar, 5-11 Sr. libero, Bishop O’Dowd -- Princeton
Jett Bathurst, 6-3 Sr. S/RS, Mira Costa -- Loyola-Chicago
Grayson Bradford, 6-9 Jr. RS/OH, Crespi -- Princeton
Ben Bray, 6-3 Sr. OH, Huntington Beach -- Grand Canyon
Kaumana Carreira, 6-8 Sr. MB, Tesoro -- Stanford
Zach Chapin, 6-0 Sr. libero, Mira Costa -- Pepperdine
Kale Cochran, 6-7 Jr. OH, Whitney -- USC
Christian Connell, 6-5 Sr. OH, Torrey Pines -- USC
Daniel DeVine, 6-5 Sr. RS, Saint Francis (Mountain View) -- Pepperdine
Justin Dickson, 6-4 Sr. MB, Chatsworth – Mount Union
Johnny Dykstra, 6-1 Sr. libero, Mira Costa -- USC
Sterling Foley, 6-8 Sr. OH, Corona del Mar-- USC
Ryan Gant, 6-7 Sr. S, Corona del Mar -- Stanford
Brogan Glenn -6-0 Jr. libero, Corona Del Mar -- UCLA
Micah Goss, 6-5 Sr. RS, Dos Pueblos -- UC Irvine
Riggs Guy, 6-3 Sr. OH, Newport Harbor -- UC Santa Barbara
Cooper Keane, 6-6 Jr. RS-OH, Mira Costa -- USC
Raglan Kear, 6-6 Sr. OH-RS, Santa Barbara -- UC Santa Barbara
Sean Kelly, 6-7 Sr. OH, Loyola -- UCLA
Cameron Kosty, 6-4 Sr. S-RS, Bishop O’Dowd -- UC Irvine
Victor Loiola, 6-4 Sr. OH, Mira Costa -- Long Beach State
Jack Loper, 6-5 Jr. OH,, San Clemente -- Stanford
Victor Lowe, 6-5 Sr. S/RS, Harvard-Westlake -- Hawaii
Emmett Martin, 6-4 Sr. OH, Loyola -- UCSB
Shane Newberry, 6-2 Sr. S, Rio Americano -- Alabama
Ian Nolte, 6-5 Sr. OH, Wilson -- Ohio State
Roman Payne, 6-10 Jr. MB, Carlsbad -- Hawaii
Jake Pazanti, 6-3 Sr. S, Huntington Beach -- Long Beach State
Liam Popejoy, 6-6 Sr. MB, Leigh -- UC Santa Cruz
Eamon Rigdon, 6-6 Sr. RS-OH, Servite -- USC
Tyler Robinson, 6-8 Sr. MB, Mater Dei -- USC
Titus Rodz, 6-0 Sr. OH, St Francis (La Canada) -- Stevens Institute of Technology
Ethan Saint, 6-3 Sr. RS-OH, Santa Margarita Catholic -- UCSB
Caleb Sapp, 6-8 Sr. RS, Claremont -- UCLA
Kai Schmitt, 6-1 Sr. libero, San Clemente -- Stanford
Trent Taliaferro, 6-5 Sr. S, JSerra Catholic -- UCLA
Joey Thalken, 6-3 Sr. OH, Rio Americano – Orange Coast College
Parker Tomkinson, 7-0 Sr. MB, Carlsbad -- USC
Marek Turner, 6-5 RS Jr., Wilson -- UCLA
Jack Von Der Ahe, 6-1 Sr. RS, Newport Harbor – USC
Reed Wainwright, 6-7 Sr. MB, St. Margaret’s – Stanford
Single-match stat stars
I have asked coaches on our bulk email list to help me compile a list of astounding single-match statistical achievements! We will keep a running tally of players who stat at these levels for a single match as well as triple-doubles:
50 assists in a match
30 kills in a match
30 digs in a match
10 blocks in a match
10 aces in a match
Here’s what we have so far…
Triple doubles
Yun Bae, 6-1 Sr. S/RS, Foothill (Pleasanton) – 11 assists, 10 kills, 10 digs on Feb .22 versus Campolindo
Victor Camba, 5-11 Sr. S/RS, Indian Springs – 10 kills, 10 assists, 10 digs on March 18 versus Norte Vista
Colt Schmidt, 6-2 Jr. OH, Desert Christian – 10 aces, 19 kills, 14 digs on March 1 versus Vasquez
Colt Schmidt, 6-2 Jr. OH, Desert Christian – 12 aces, 20 kills, 11 digs on April 11 versus St. Monica
Wyatt Silver, 6-3 Jr. S, Dos Pueblos -- 10 kills, 11 digs, 34 assists on Feb. 22 versus Valencia of Valencia
50 or more assists
63 -- Aaron Meza, 5-9 Jr. S, Avalon – April 17 versus Orangewood Academy
58 -- Grayson Springborn, 6-1 Sr. S, Newport Harbor -- April 11 versus Huntington Beach
58 – Ryan Gant, 6-7 Sr. S, Corona del Mar – March 23 versus Huntington Beach
55 -- Grayson Springborn, 6-1 Sr. S, Newport Harbor -- March 15 versus Corona del Mar
54 -- Grayson Springborn, 6-1 Sr. S, Newport Harbor -- March 6 versus Mira Costa
54 -- Jaiden Abling, 6-0 Sr. S, Eagle Rock – March 6 versus Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks)
54 -- Grayson Springborn, 6-1 Sr. S, Newport Harbor -- April 30 versus Huntington Beach
51 -- Grayson Springborn, 6-1 Sr. S, Newport Harbor -- March 22 versus Edison (Huntington Beach)
50 -- Andrew Taylor, 6-2 senior S, Woodcreek – April 18 versus Antelope
30 or more kills
50 – Tom Altankhuyag, 6-6 Sr. OH, Eagle Rock – March 6 versus Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks)
46 -- Jacob Mello, 6-2 Jr. OH, Avalon – April 13 versus Liberty Christian
38 – Sterling Foley, 6-8 Sr. OH, Corona del Mar – March 23 versus Huntington Beach
38 – Tom Altankhuyag, 6-6 Sr. OH, Eagle Rock – April 12 versus Chatsworth
35 -- Riggs Guy, 6-3 Sr. OH, Newport Harbor – March 6 at Mira Costa in five-set win
35 – Tom Altankhuyag, 6-6 Sr. OH, Eagle Rock – April 29 versus Taft
32 – Sterling Foley, 6-8 Sr. OH, Corona del Mar – March 25 versus Mira Costa
30 -- Hunter Hamilton, 6-5 Soph. OH, Foothills Christian – March 15 versus La Jolla Country Day
30 – Sterling Foley, 6-8 Sr. OH, Corona del Mar – April 17 versus Huntington Beach
30 or more digs
41 -- Gabriel Camba, 5-10 Jr. libero, Indian Springs – April 9 versus A.B. Miller
10 or more blocks
None reported
10 or more aces
18 -- Aaron Meza, 5-9 Jr. S, Avalon – March 25 v. Bethel Baptist
13 -- Ralph Banuelos, 6-3 Jr. MB, Indian Springs – April 15 versus Calvary Baptist La Verne
12 – Colt Schmidt, 6-2 Jr. OH, Desert Christian – April 11 versus St. Monica
10 – Colt Schmidt, 6-2 Jr. OH, Desert Christian – March 1 versus Vasquez
Season-long stars
We are also compiling a list of season-long stat stars, with these thresholds:
450 or more kills
500 or more digs
900 or more assists
125 or more blocks
80 or more aces
Here’s what we have so far…
450 or more kills
735 – Tom Altankhuyag, 6-6 Sr. OH, Eagle Rock
473 -- Noah Douphner, 6-5 Jr. OH, West Ranch
500 or more digs
None reported
900 or more assists
1,151 -- Grayson Springborn, 6-1 Sr. S, Newport Harbor
125 or more total blocks
None reported
80 or more aces
81 – Colt Schmidt, 6-2 Jr. OH, Desert Christian
Any COACH may report a stat star by emailing jtawa@cifstate.org, using the format you see above.