Loyola, Notre Dame, Bishop Montgomery reach volleyball semis

Three Catholic school teams have reached the semifinals of the Division 1 CIF-Southern Section boys’ volleyball tournament after posting quarterfinal wins May 13.

The semifinal matches to be played May 17 include Loyola hosting Newport Harbor in Division 1, Notre Dame hosting South Torrance in Division 2, and Bishop Montgomery at Crean Lutheran in Division 3. Winners advance to the finals on May 20.

In the quarterfinals, Loyola (26-1) defeated Arnold Beckman of Tustin, Notre Dame (28-7-1) beat El Segundo, and Bishop Montgomery (17-8) stopped Tustin, all in straight sets. Paraclete was beaten by Crean Lutheran in Division 3.

In boys’ tennis, J. Serra of San Juan Capistrano --- the only Catholic school which reached Round 2 in post-season play --- reached the quarterfinals against Etiwanda, after defeating Garden Grover 12-6 in Round 2.

Baseball

Post-season play in seven divisions will commence this week in baseball beginning with wild-card affairs on May 16 and 17, and first-round games on May 18 and 19.

The May 16 wild-card games for baseball involving Catholic schools include Santa Monica at La Salle (Division 3): Anaheim at Salesian (Division 5); and Rosemead at Don Bosco Tech (Division 7). On May 17, Alemany is at Oaks Christian (Division 2) and Santa Clara is at Ganesha (Division 6).

The first-round games in Division 1 include Servite at Cypress, Damien at South Hills, Mater Dei at Millikan, Foothill/Santa Ana at J.Serra, Chaminade at Bishop Amat, and San Clemente at Notre Dame. In Division 2, Thousand Oaks is at St. Bonaventure, and St. John Bosco hosts a wild-card winner.

In Division 3, Paraclete hosts a wild-card winner and Cantwell-Sacred Heart hosts Paso Robles. Schurr is at Serra and Calvary Chapel/Santa Ana at Bishop Montgomery in Division 4.

Division 6 features St. Margaret Episcopal at St. Anthony, Providence at Foothill Technology, and St. Bernard at St. Monica Academy. Bishop Diego is at Lennox Academy in Division 7.

Softball

Softball wild-card action begins May 16, with Hillcrest at Mary Star in Division 6, and Serra at Mayfield, and California School of the deaf at Bishop Conaty-Loretto in Division 7.

First-round play in all seven division takes place May 18, with Bishop Amat at Mater Dei among the Division 1 contests, and four games involving Catholic schools in Division 2: St. Lucy’s Priory at Glendora, Rosary at Gahr, St. Paul at Santa Monica, and Millikan at Santa Margarita.

The Division 3 games include Long Beach Wilson at St. Bonaventure and California at Paraclete, while St. Joseph.Lakewood hosts a wild-card winner in Division 4. Among the Division 5 first-round games are La Quinta/Westminster at Alverno, Chaminade at Calvary Chapel/Downey, Barstow at Pomona Catholic, and Temple City at Alemany.

In Division 6, St. Anthony and Notre Dame/Sherman Oaks each host wild-card winners, while Notre Dame Academy hosts Azusa. And in Division 7, Providence is at Ramona Convent, Southland Christian at St. Mary’s Academy, and St. Genevieve and Cornelia Connelly each host wild-card winners.

Swimming & Diving

In the CIF-SS Swimming and Diving Championships held May 10-13 at the Riverside Aquatics Complex, Catholic schools were well represented in most divisions of the boys’ and girls’ team competitions.

Santa Margarita led the way by winning the girls’ team title with 461 points, more than double that of runnerup Tesoro. Other Catholic schools placing in Division 1 were Mater Dei (11th, 106 points), J.Serra (20th, 38), Notre Dame/Sherman Oaks (23rd, 28) and Flintridge Sacred Heart (30th, 15).

In boys’ Division 1, Loyola placed second with 282 points, 10 behind champion Dana Hills. Also earning points were Santa Margarita (5th, 163), Crespi (6th, 120), Mater Dei (11th, 110), Notre Dame/Sherman Oaks (24th, 30), and Servite (32nd, 5).

Damien finished just four points from the Division 2 boys’ title, placing second (209) behind Foothill. In Division 3 girls, Mayfield finished tied for 26th (34) to earn top Catholic school honors ahead of Marymount and Immaculate Heart (tied for 32nd, 23 points each), La Reina (40th, 8) and Louisville (44th, 3). In Division 3 boys, Villanova Prep was the lone Catholic school earnings points (3, 41st).

Among Division 4 girls’ results, Bishop Amat tied for tenth (95 points), followed by La Salle (13th, 72), St. Monica Academy (25th, 35), St. Joseph/Lakewood (32nd, 13), Mary Star (36th, 7), and St. Anthony (45th, 2.5). In Division 4 boys, La Salle placed fifth with 103 points, ahead of Bishop Amat (24th, 29), St. Anthony (30th, 20), St. Bonaventure (35th, 10), and Serra (39th, 4).

Individual results (including top 8 finishers) will be reported in an upcoming issue.

Golf

In boys’ golf, Loyola and Zervite captured team titles in divisional play held May 15, qualifying for the Southern California Team Qualifying Tournament May 18 at Rancho San Marcos in  Santa Barbara.

Loyola won the Central Regional at Lakewood Country Club, its 369 aggregate score eight shots better than runnerup Chaminade, whose Will Draper posted the best individual score (68). St. Francis finished third (379), led by David Emerson whose 71 tied him for third individually with Loyola’s Parker Lestz and Connor Bown.

Servite, led by individual champ Jack Rahon (68), won the Western Regional at Whispering Lakes Club with a 360 total that featured Kyle Kinnane’s 70 and Brendan Gonzalez’ 71. Mater Dei finished third at 377, led by Robert Compean (69).