Monache, Porterville open playoffs at home
The familiar faces of Division II Monache and Div. IV Strathmore high school volleyball teams once again make their return to the CIF Central Section championship playoffs, while Div. IV’S Porterville and Lindsay make an appearance for their first time in three years.
Out of the East Yosemite League, Monache (24-9, 7-3 EYL) begins their playoff run as the seventh-seed and host the 10th-seeded Miners of El Diamante (16-13) on Thursday.
“From observing El Diamante’s season statistics we match up well,” MHS head coach Rosie Quinones said. “They will be a great first-round challenge.
Last season a fourthseeded Marauders (259, 9-1 EYL) team was bounced from the playoffs in the quarterfinals after being upset by fifth-seeded Sanger (2715). This season, a win for the Marauders in the opening round puts them against the second-seeded Monarchs of Exeter who Monache lost 3-0 to earlier in the season.
“We had a pretty good season and I’m confident that the team will come out and execute our game,” Quinones said. “If we can pass the ball and stay in system we are a threat.”
All opening round games are Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
No. 10 Mcfarland (205-1) at No. 7 Porterville (16-12, 4-6 EYL)
After a forgettable 6-15 season last year, Porterville earned their first trip to the playoffs in three years with a 16-12 overall record. The seventh-seed Panthers also earned their first home playoff game since 2011 and host the 10th-seeded Cougars of Mcfarland.
“I’ve never seen them,” PHS head coach Lisa Davis said. “They played at different tournaments than we did. We’re kind of going into this [blind]. Against like opponents that we’ve seen, I saw that they had lost to Delano and we beat Delano. But we didn’t crush Delano, that doesn’t mean that we should go into this like, ‘Oh yeah, we got this in our pocket.’ Oh no, it’s playoff. It’s now. You lose and you don’t get tomorrow, you’re done.”
From the start, Davis has told the girls to “dare to be brave” and with the team reaching the playoffs, the Panthers are beginning to look like the competitors of the past.
“It feels like all the hard work that we’ve put in the last six months has paid off,” PHS head coach Lisa Davis said. “And that the kids have bought into what our mission is...it feels great to be able to bring a home match in playoffs for Porterville High School volleyball back.”
A victory for Porterville advances the Panthers to the quarterfinals where they could face the second-seeded Hawks of Liberty.
No. 9 Frazier Mountain (19-9) at No. 8 Strathmore (15-11, 8-2 ESL)
For the second year in a row Strathmore earned an opening round home game, this time against the ninth-seeded Falcons of Frazier Mountain.
The co-east Sequoia
League champion Spartans, return to the playoffs with a chip on their shoulder after exiting the playoffs in the quarterfinals in a straight-set loss to third-seeded Taft (27-7-3). Strathmore was the sixth-seed with a 1911 overall record.
Frazier Mountain and Strathmore’s lone common opponent is Caruthers (14-15-2) who both teams defeated 3-0 earlier in the season.
The winner faces the winner of top-seeded Kingsburg (22-9) and
16th-seeded Bishop Union (13-15-1).
No. 15 Lindsay (10-8, 6-4 ESL) at No. 2 Liberty (25-6), Thursday, 6:30 p.m
Lindsay tied for third in the East Sequoia League and is back in the playoffs for the first time since 2014.
This first trip is going to be an uphill battle as they play at second-seeded Liberty. The teams’ only common opponent is Immanuel (13-13) who defeated both teams 3-1.