A straight-set win over rival Marymount has pushed Mater Dei into the top spot of the CIF-Southern Section Divisions 1 and 2 girls’ volleyball poll released Oct. 8.
On Oct. 4 in Westwood, the visiting Monarchs (No. 3 last week) edged the Sailors in a hard-fought first set, 26-24, then dominated the last two sets, 25-17 and 25-14. Junior star Mia Tuaniga led the way for Mater Dei with seven kills, four aces and 16 assists.
Mater Dei (34-2) began the final week of Trinity League play with a win Oct. 8 over J.Serra, and played Orange Lutheran Oct. 10. Playoffs begin next week, at which time Divisions 1 and 2 will be separated.
Redondo Union (22-2) dipped from first to second in the Oct. 8 poll, with Marymount (27-7 after beating Marlborough Oct. 8) down from second to third and Santa Margarita (20-12) fifth.
Nationally, Redondo Union is second in Maxpreps’ Xcellent 25 weekly survey, with Mater Dei fourth. In Maxpreps’ Computer poll, Mater Dei is second, Marymount fourth and Redondo Union eighth.
Elsewhere, Alemany moved up to sixth from seventh in the Division 3 list; Bishop Montgomery remained third and Mayfield tenth in D-4; Providence (Burbank) remained seventh and St. Bonaventure eighth in D-7. and Holy Family was No. 9 in D-8.
Cross country
Loyola is still tied for first in boys’ Division 2, according to the Oct. 8 CIF-SS rankings issued by Rich Gonzalez of PrepCalTrack.com. In D-4, J.Serra, Cathedral and Bishop Amat fell slightly, from 2-4-8 to 3-5-10, and St. Bonaventure slid from eighth to tenth in D-5.
In girls’ cross country, Santa Margarita is still eighth in D-3, while La Reina is now eighth with Sacred Heart ninth in D-5. The D-4 changes saw Bishop Amat rise from eighth to fifth, J.Serra fall from sixth to seventh and Mayfield dip from seventh to eighth.
Girls’ tennis
Although Mater Dei is still 16th in Division 1, there were noticeable changes elsewhere in the Oct. 8 CIF-SS polls among Catholic schools. Chaminade climbed from ninth to sixth in D-2, and La Salle rose from sixth to fourth in D-5.
In D-4, however, Bishop Montgomery and Alemany remained sixth and eighth, while St. Lucy’s and Mayfield fell out of the D-3 rankings.
Boys’ water polo
With two weeks to go before the split in the combined Division 1&2 list is made for the playoffs, Loyola is now No. 2 (up from third), Mater Dei No. 5 (down from fourth), Santa Margarita still sixth, and Damien 16th (up from 20th) among the top tier schools.
Servite is still first in Division 3, while Cathedral is still ninth in D-7.
Girls golf
Post-season play begins Oct. 22 with individual regional qualifying tournaments, followed by team divisional championships Oct. 29, and individual and team CIF/WSCGA qualifying Nov. 1. The CIF/WSCGA championships are scheduled Nov. 8 at Brookside Golf Course in Pasadena, and State Championships will be held Nov. 14 at Victoria Club in Riverside.
Mike Nelson is the former editor of The Tidings (predecessor of Angelus News).
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