It was moving week for many schools in the CIF-Southern Section Divisions girls’ volleyball rankings, but national power Mater Dei remained atop the Divisions 1&2 poll released Sept. 4.
With many teams engaging in holiday weekend tournaments (in which matches were often best-of-three sets instead of five), Mater Dei ran its record to 8-0 with six 2-0 victories in the Dave Mohs Tournament Aug. 31-Sept. 1, heading into its Sept. 5 match against No. 2 Redondo Union (also 8-0).
The latter — ranked No. 4 to Mater Dei’s No. 3 in Maxpreps’ national rankings — downed Marymount Aug. 30 in three tough sets (26-24, 25-23, 25-21). The Sailors (9-2) thus dipped from third to fourth in the combined D-1&2 poll, but on Sept. 4 defeated No. 6 Santa Margarita (9-5), which moved up from 12th after going 4-2 in the Mohs Tourney.
Two Catholic teams which were No. 1 last week dropped from the top, though not by much. Bishop Montgomery (4-4) slipped from first to second in Division 4, winning one and losing two in the Mohs Tourney then dropping a Sept. 4 match to D-1 Redondo Union.
And St. Bonaventure fell from first to fourth in D-7, though the Seraphs beat Channel Islands 3-0 on Sept. 4. On the other side, Providence (Burbank) climbed into the D-7 top 10 at No. 9 before losing to Mayfield Sept. 4.
Other upward moves included St. Anthony (9-1), from sixth to fifth in D-5; Bishop Diego, from unranked to No. 5 in D-8; and Santa Clara, from unranked to No. 4 in D-9. Holy Family dipped from sixth to eighth in D-8.
The “Others to Watch” list included St. Joseph/Lakewood (D-1), St. Paul (D-3) and Bishop Amat (D-5).
Cross country
The first meets of the 2018 cross country season are in the books, with several Catholic teams beginning to emerge as forces, according to the CIF-SS rankings issued Sept. 4 from Rich Gonzalez of PrepCalTrack.com.
In boys’ cross country, Loyola is ranked second in Division 2; J.Serra is second, Cathedral third and Bishop Amat seventh in Division 4; and St. Pius X-St. Matthias is fifth in Division 5.
In girls’ cross country, Santa Margarita is tenth in D-3; Mayfield is fourth, J.Serra fifth, Bishop Amat sixth and Immaculate Heart tenth in D-4; and Pomona Catholic is fifth and Sacred Heart tenth in D-5.
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