Mira Costa girls water polo team enters playoffs as fourth seed
Mira Costa goalkeeper Katie Nitzberg has been the defensive backbone for the Mustangs who earned a fourth seed in the playoffs. Photo
Bay League champion Peninsula and runner-up Mira Costa earned the third and fourth seeds, respectively, going into this week’s CIF Southern Section Division 3 girls water polo playoffs.
Mira Costa (13-9) hosts Tuesday’s Notre Dame/Sherman Oaks – Atascadero wild-card winner in the first round on Wednesday. The victor advances to Saturday’s quarterfinal action and will face the winner between No. 5 Santiago/Corona (18-6) and the La Habra/El Rancho wild-card winner.
Peninsula (18-6) hosts PAC 8 runner-up Righetti (20-9) in the first round on Wednesday. The victor will likely face No. 6 Troy (22-7), who will play Tuesday’s Norco-Alemany wild-card winner, on Saturday.
The Bay League’s third team, Palos Verdes (9-17), entered the postseason ranked No. 8 and hosts Sunny Hills (19-8) on Tuesday with the winner traveling to No 10 La Serna (15-14) on Wednesday.
In Division 6, Ocean League runner-up El Segundo (15-12) plays at third-seeded Segerstrom (20-8) in the first round on Thursday.
Chadwick (11-9) earned an at-large berth and will make a long road trip for a wild-card game at Morrow Bay (6-12) on Tuesday. The winner will travel to fourth-seeded Santa Monica (17-12) on Thursday.
The semifinals (Wednesday, Feb. 25) and finals (Saturday, Feb. 28) for all divisions will be held at William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center in Irvine.
For complete brackets, times and results, visit cifss.org.