Top-seeded Loyola advanced to the quarterfinals of the Division 1 CIF-Southern Section boys’ volleyball tournament after a hard-fought 25-22, 25-23, 33-35, 25-19 win over Servite of Anaheim on May 11.
Loyola (25-1 overall) will play Arnold Beckman May 13. Altogether, four Catholic schools reached the volleyball quarterfinals, with Notre Dame, Paraclete and Bishop Montgomery joining Loyola.
Additionally, Catholic schools were represented in the top 10 of several divisions in the CIF-SS Swimming and Diving Championships that began May 10 in Riverside. And regular season play in baseball and softball concluded this week, with playoff brackets to be announced in both sports on May 15.
Boys’ Volleyball
Second round action on May 11 produced the following results:
In Division 1, Mater Dei lost in four sets to Laguna Beach. In Division 2, Notre Dame outlasted Long Beach Poly to earn a quarterfinal berth against El Segundo.
Division 3’s quarterfinals will feature Paraclete (a 3-0 winner over Santa Ynez) against Crean Lutheran (which beat Damien 3-1), and Bishop Montgomery (a 3-1 over Rio Mesa) against Tustin. Previously unbeaten Bishop Diego lost to Cypress 3-0.
Division 4’s Catholic schools representatives were both defeated: St. Anthony by Downey, 3-0, and La Salle by Kennedy, 3-2. St. Genevieve lost its Division 5 second round match to San Gabriel Academy, 3-0.
In first round action on May 9:
Division 1: Top-seeded Loyola (Mission League winner) defeated Esperanza 3-0; Servite (Trinity #2) defeated Hillcrest 3-0; Mira Costa defeated Santa Margarita (Trinity #3) 3-2; Corona Del Mar beat Alemany (Mission #2 tied) 3-0; Mater Dei (Trinity #1, 29-3 overall) defeated Dos Pueblos 3-1; Laguna Beach beat Cathedral (Del Rey #2) 3-0.
Division 2: Notre Dame (Mission #2 tied) swept San Luis Obispo 3-0.
Division 3: Bishop Diego (Tri-Valley #1, 18-0) beat Alhambra 3-0; Damien (Hacienda #3) beat Laguna Blanca 3-0; Paraclete (Gold Coast #1) beat Calvary Chapel 3-0; and Bishop Montgomery (Del Rey #1) defeated Eastside 3-0.
Division 4: St. Anthony (Camino Real #1) beat Sage Hill 3-1; La Salle (Camino Real #2) beat Morro Bay 3-0.
Division 5: Wild-card winner St. Genevieve (Camino Real #3) beat Cantwell Sacred Heart (Santa Fe #1) 3-0 and Woodcrest Christian defeated wild-card winner St. Pius-St. Matthias Academy (Santa Fe #2) 3-1.
Swimming & Diving
In the CIF-SS Swimming and Diving Championships which began May 10 at the Riverside Aquatics Complex with the diving finals, Santa Margarita juniors Juan Cerda and Nicholas Leavell placed fifth and seventh in boys’ Division 1.
Santa Margarita also did well in girls’ diving, with freshman Alexandra Barnes (sixth), junior Londen Christensen (seventh) and senior Paige Gohr (10th) all in the Division 1 top 10. In Division 3, Immaculate Heart junior Brighida Rosendahl was fourth, and Mayfield sophomore Julia Kasputis was ninth.
Preliminary races in swimming preceded the finals scheduled May 13.
Boys’ Tennis
J. Serra of San Juan Capistrano was the only Catholic school to advance to Round 2 in boys’ tennis post-season play, which began May 9 with wild-card qualification, and first-round play on May 10. First round results:
Division 1: Arcadia defeated Loyola (Mission League #2) 15-3, and Northwood defeated Santa Margarita (Trinity #1) 13-5.
Division 2: San Marcos defeated Chaminade (Mission #3), 15-3.
Division 3: J. Serra (Trinity #2) defeated Brea Olinda 13-5; St. Joseph/Santa Maria (Los Padres #3), which defeated Santa Ynez 10-8 in a wild-card match, lost to Cate 13-5. J. Serra (20-4 overall) advances to the second round May 12 at Garden Grove.
Division 5: Marshall defeated Bishop Montgomery (Del Rey #2) 12-6; Bishop Amat (Del Rey #1) lost to Gahr 10-8; La Salle (Del Rey #3), which defeated Chaffey 10-8 in wild-card play, lost to Jurupa Valley 11-7.
Other Sports
In boys’ golf, team championships in seven divisions will be held May 15 and 16, and the top two teams from each of seven divisions advance to the team qualifier on May 18 at Rancho San Marcos in Santa Barbara, when individual championships will also be held. Among the individual qualifiers are Jack Rahnon and Kyle Kinnane, Servite; Greg Merro, Santa Margarita; Parker Lestz and Connor Brown, Loyola; William Draper, Chaminade; and Trip Morris, Notre Dame.
Preliminary competition in the CIF-SS Track and Field Championships (boys’ and girls’) is scheduled May 13 at four locations: Trabuco Hills HS (Division 1), Moorpark HS (Division 2), Estancia HS (Division 3) and Carpinteria HS (Division 4). Finals in all divisions will be held May 20 at Cerritos College, followed by the Masters Meet (state championship qualifying) on May 26 at Arcadia HS and the State Championships on June 2 and 3 at Buchanan HS in Clovis.
