Girls volleyball teams kick off the fall playoff season Thursday with numerous teams from the South Bay hoping to bring home CIF championships.
In the highly-competitive Division 1 playoffs, second-seeded Redondo (34-2) hosts Marmonte League champion Westlake (33-1) while Bay League runner-up and eighth-seeded Mira Costa (23-9) will travel to take on Moore League champion Long Beach Poly (29-7).
A win in the opening round would pit Redondo against the San Juan Hills-Vista Murrieta winner in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.
“We are prepared for the second season of our year, the playoffs,” Redondo coach Tommy Chaffins said. “We are hopeful of a long and memorable run. We also fully understand, we are only guaranteed one match, our first match vs. 33-1 Westlake. We are in the highest division, right where we want to be, and will only play the best of the best. Never before in history of high school athletics, the combined records of both squads will be 63-3 for a first round playoff game. We both went undefeated in League, but these are the waters in the highest division.
“We will treat the playoff season like we have all regular season. What I mean by that is, we want to have fun in practice and in the matches, we want to support each other, and we want to compete. That has been our formula all year long, and we like that recipe.”
If Mira Costa is victorious, the Mustangs would likely play top seeded Mater Dei — one of two teams to defeat Redondo this season — in the second round. Mater Dei (35-2) hosts Great Pak (22-8) in the first round.
“We’re trying to find the magic,” Mira Costa head coach Cam Green said. “We’re still looking for the right piece to the puzzle and began working for a deep run at practice on Monday.”
Redondo captured its second consecutive Bay League title and sixth in seven years defeating Mira Costa 25-20, 25-14, 25-17 in the regular season finale last week.
Sophomore Kami Miner recorded five kills in the first set before junior libero Nalani Iosia served an ace to give Redondo the win. The Sea Hawks’ Jasmine Davis posted six of her nine kills in the second set that included an 8-0 run.
Mira Costa kept fighting, taking a 7-2 lead to begin the third set and went ahead 15-11 later in the set behind the offensive output of seniors Memphis Glasgow and Rochelle Scott. The duo finished with nine and seven kills, respectively, but the Mustangs could not overcome the powerful Sea Hawks.
Redondo was helped by Jylen Whitten and Miner who each posted four kills in the final set as the Sea Hawks won 14 of the final 20 points for the victory.
Green remains optimistic for a deep run in the playoffs.
“Redondo is a strong, experienced team,” Green said. “We have the talent for a strong showing in the playoffs but need to eliminate mistakes.”
In Division 2, Palos Verdes (19-11) travels to face Baseline League runner-up Los Osos (12-16) and in Division 3, Pioneer League co-champion South Torrance (20-14) hosts Louisville (18-15).
In Division 4, Del Rey runner-up Bishop Montgomery (18-12) is fourth seeded and will host Gahr (18-7) while Pioneer League co-champion Torrance (18-12) hosts Royal (12-11) and El Segundo travels to Prep League champion Poly/Pasadena.
In a wild card game on Tuesday, West Torrance (12-18) hosted Chadwick (15-10). The winner will travel to face Rio Hondo League champion San Marino (23-5) on Thursday.
In Division 7, Rolling Hills Prep (15-2) is ranked fifth and will host Loara in the first round. Hawthorne MSA earned a wild card berth and hosted St. Mary’s Academy on Tuesday with the winner advancing to take on host and fourth-seeded Nordhoff in the first round.
