Marymount High School of Westwood will play Sierra Vista in the first round of the CIF-Southern Section girls’ water polo tournament on Feb. 15, after the Sailors emerged as the top-ranked team in Division 7 of the final regular season poll released Feb. 10.
The Mater Dei Monarchs, winners of the Trinity League, were ranked No. 3 in Division 1 heading into the post-season tournament that begins this week. Other Catholic school teams ranked in the top 10 in various divisions include Santa Margarita (No. 3 in D-2), Rosary Academy (No. 5 in D-3), St. Lucy’s Priory (No. 4 in D-4), Notre Dame/Sherman Oaks (No. 7 in D-5) and Villanova Prep (No. 4 in D-7).
In all, 10 of the 15 Catholic schools from Los Angeles and Orange who participate in girls’ water polo qualified for the playoffs, starting with wild-card matches on Feb. 13 and followed by first round matches on Feb. 14 and 15. Catholic school matches include:
Division 1, first round, Feb. 15: Mater Dei (14-2, Trinity League champion) vs. Los Alamitos (20-7, Sunset League champion).
Division 2, wild-card: Santa Margarita (19-7, Trinity No. 3) vs. Huntington Beach (15-8, Sunset No. 3); winner plays Poly/Riverside on Feb. 15.
Division 3, wild-card: Rosary Academy (18-10, Trinity No. 4) vs. Bonita (14-12, Palomares No. 2); winner plays Rio Mesa in Oxnard on Feb. 15.
Division 4, first round, Feb. 15: St. Lucy’s (22-7, Baseline No. 2) vs. Capistrano Valley (17-11, Sea View No. 2).
Division 5, first round, Feb. 14: Notre Dame/Sherman Oaks (20-8, Mission No. 2) vs. Mayfield (12-8, Prep No. 2); Alemany (11-8, Mission No. 4) vs. El Segundo (18-10, Ocean co-champion)
Division 7, first round, Feb. 15: Marymount (14-5, Mission No. 3) vs. Sierra Vista (6-12, Montview No. 2); Villanova Prep (13-11, Frontier League champion) vs. wild-card winner; Pomona Catholic (San Andreas co-champion) vs. wild-card winner.
Championship matches are scheduled Feb. 23 and 24. No local Catholic school has reached a CIF-SS tournament final since 2014, when Santa Margarita edged Mater Dei 5-4 to win the Division 2 final, repeating the Eagles’ 2013 championship win over the Monarchs, 12-11 in overtime.
The only other Catholic school champions in girls’ water polo since post-season play began in 1998 are Rosary (Division III, 1998) and Santa Margarita (D-IV, 2000). The Eagles also reached divisional finals in 2001, 2002 and 2003, as did St. Lucy’s (2011) and Mater Dei (2012).
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