Boys' Water Polo: J.Serra, Crespi are No. 1 as playoffs begin

As expected, J.Serra (Division 4) and Crespi (Division 6) earned the No. 1 seeds in their respective divisions for the CIF-Southern Section boys’ water polo playoffs that begin Nov. 5.

In all, nine Catholic school teams received playoff berths, including three in Division 1: Loyola (third), Santa Margarita (fifth) and Mater Dei (eighth). Seedings are based on the final regular season polls issued Nov. 2.

Other seeded teams include St. Francis, second in D-5, and Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks, fifth in D-3. Damien (D-2) and Cathedral (D-5) are unseeded, though Cathedral won the D-7 championship in 2018. 

Playoff action begins Nov. 5 with first round matches in Division 3 to 6, including:

D-3: Notre Dame/SO (14-7) at Cerritos (7-17).

D-4: J.Serra (22-5) at Beaumont (15-10).

D-5: St. Francis (25-3) at Cathedral (12-10).

D-6: Mark Keppel (8-14) at Crespi (16-11).

The eight-team D-1 bracket begins with quarterfinal play Nov. 7, including Loyola (23-5), Mission League runnerup, hosting Santa Margarita (18-8), Trinity League runnerup, and Mater Dei (13-3), Trinity League No. 3, at top-seeded Harvard-Westlake (25-2), Mission League champ.

In D-2, Damien (17-13), the Baseline League champion, hosts Mira Costa (18-10) in a first-round match Nov. 6.