Redondo’s boys volleyball team is in a good news-bad news situation as it makes a run for a better position in the upcoming CIF-Southern Section Division 1 playoffs.
The good news is that all of the Sea Hawk’s remaining matches are at home. The bad news is that many highly-ranked teams stand in their way.
The journey begins this afternoon at 5 p.m. when Redondo hosts Palos Verdes, a 3-1 winner in the first meeting between the Bay League title contenders. A Sea Hawk victory would leave both teams with two league losses.
In a 7 p.m. match on Tuesday, Mira Costa invades Sea Hawk Pavilion in the regular season finale. The Mustangs, who swept Redondo in their first match, have one league loss splitting their series with Palos Verdes.
Sandwiched by the critical league matches is the Redondo Varsity Classic that features four of the top ten ranked teams in CIF-SS Division 1 and the top teams from Division 2 and 4. Competition takes place Friday and Saturday at Redondo, West and South High Schools.
“The Sea Hawks are excited to play some of the top teams in the state this weekend,” Redondo coach Duncan Avery said. “This is a great weekend to watch high quality volleyball and will be a good test for all teams going into the CIF playoffs.”
Competition begins Friday at 3:30 p.m. with Redondo hosting matches between teams in Pool 1 (Newbury Park, La Costa Canyon, Oxnard, Carson), Pool 2 (Redondo, Laguna Beach, Rio Mesa), Pool 3 (Westlake, Foothill, Bishop Montgomery, St. Augustine) and Pool 4 (Carlsbad, Burroughs, Redondo JV).
West Torrance hosts Pool 5 (Saddleback Valley Christian, Valencia, Oaks Christian, Poway) and Pool 6 (San Clemente, El Segundo, La Jolla, West). South Torrance hosts Pool 7 (Palos Verdes, Alemany, Calabasas, Torrance) and Pool 8 (Oak Park, South, Scripps Ranch, Santa Monica).
Saturday’s action starts at 8:30 a.m. The top two teams from each pool advance to Gold Division competition to be held at Redondo. Third-place teams play in the Silver Division at South High and fourth-place teams compete in the Bronze Division at West High.
Palos Verdes is the top seeded team followed by Newbury Park, Oak Park and Saddleback Valley Christian.
Mira Costa will be hosting its annual Alumni Game on Friday at 6 p.m. in Fisher Gym when former players take on this year’s varsity squad.
The storied program celebrates its 46th year and has won four National Championships (‘84, ‘90, ‘96. 01) and seven CIF titles (‘84, ‘90, ‘96, ‘01, ‘02, ‘08, ‘12).
The Mustangs lost only their fourth match of the season last Saturday falling to rival Loyola 25-23, 26-24, 23-25, 28-26 in the championship match of the Karch Kiraly Tournament of Champions in Santa Barbara.
Mira Costa beat San Marcos JV and Simi Valley on Friday to make the semifinals where they defeated Burroughs 28-26, 25-11, 25-19.
Huntington Beach moved back into the No. 1 spot in the CIF-SS Division 1 rankings followed by Loyola and Mira Costa. Palos Verdes is ranked No. 5 and Redondo is tied at No. 10 with Mater Dei.
