Wilson gets first-round bye
After winning a share of the Moore League title, the Wilson girls volleyball team was rewarded with one of the top seeds in Division 2 and a first-round bye in the CIF Southern Section playoffs.
The playoff pairings for Divisions 1-9 were released Saturday morning on the CIF-SS website.
Wilson coach Chris Ceballos was excited to see his team's draw in the single-elimination bracket.
“Byes can be tricky,” Ceballos said. “As we've seen with the Dodgers, sometimes teams coming off of byes lose their edge and it breaks their rhythm.
“I'm confident my girls can manage to maintain their focus and have a solid week of practices going into our match on the 21st against either Temecula Valley or El Toro.”
Ceballos said the thirdseeded Bruins will use their first-round bye to focus on themselves, instead of their unknown opponent.
“We know we can always improve so focusing on ourselves is always the best bet,” Ceballos said. “So maintaining our strengths and getting 1% better is something we try to do every day.
“At the end of the day, we have to play our best and make teams adjust to us.”
Here is a look at the local teams in each playoff division:
DIVISION 1 ❯❯ Division 1 uses a pool-play format to determine the two teams that will meet in the final, dividing the eight teams into Pool A and Pool B.
Los Alamitos (31-5) is the No. 7 seed in Pool B. The Griffins, who finished second in the Surf League, will play at No. 2 Mira Costa on Wednesday, at No. 3 Huntington Beach on Oct. 24, and at No. 6 Alemany on Oct. 28.
The winner of Pool B will play the winner of Pool A in the final at Cerritos College on Nov. 4.
All of the teams in Division 1 automatically qualified for the CIF State Regional playoffs.
DIVISION 2 ❯❯ Wilson (25-9) will play the winner of the El Toro-Temecula Valley wild-card match in the second round on Saturday.
First-round matches are Thursday.
St. Joseph (21-7), the Del Rey League champion, will host Edison.
Millikan (9-12), the Moore League No. 3 seed, will play at JSerra.
Lakewood (16-18), the Moore League No. 4 seed, will play at Vista Murrieta.
DIVISION 3 ❯❯ Poly (24-9), the Moore League cochamp, will host Sherman Oaks Notre Dame in the first round Thursday. The Jackrabbits have won seven of their last 10 games.
DIVISION 4 ❯❯ Warren (15-2), the Gateway League winner, will host West Torrance in the first round Thursday.
Also in the first round Thursday, Valley Christian (15-9), the Olympic League No. 2 seed, will play at Paloma Valley.
DIVISION 5 ❯❯ Cerritos (20-5), the 605 League champion, will host Culver City in the first round Thursday.
DIVISION 6 ❯❯ Mayfair (18-7), the Mid-Cities League cochampion, will host the winner of the Western Christian-La Quinta wild-card game in the first round on Thursday.
La Mirada (17-10), the Gateway League No. 2 seed, will host Desert Christian Academy in the first round Thursday.
Gahr (20-11), the Gateway League No. 3 seed, will host Sultana in a wild-card game Tuesday. The winner will play at West Valley in the first round Thursday. DIVISION 7 ❯❯ Norwalk (22-11), the Mid-Cities League cochampion, will host Twentynine Palms in the first round Thursday.
Artesia (10-8), the 605 League No. 3 seed, will host St. Pius X-St. Matthias (8-6), the Santa Fe League No. 4 seed, in a wild-card game Tuesday. The winner of that match will play at Wildwood in the first round Thursday.
DIVISION 8 ❯❯ Firebaugh (1413), the Mid-Cities League No. 3 seed, will play Ganesha in the first round Thursday.