CIF boys volleyball finals cap 2017 season

For the second consecutive year, Montgomery High School hosted the San Diego Section boys volleyball championships.
Games took place last Friday and Saturday in five divisions.
While no South County teams were involved this year — Castle Park and Bonita Vista played for CIF titles last year — the atmosphere in the double deck Aztec gym remained electrifying.
Top-seeded La Jolla defeated second-seeded La Costa Canyon 3-2 in games to win the Open Division championship while top-seeded Francis Parker defeated third-seeded Carlsbad 3-1 in games to win the Division I title.

Second-seeded Sage Creek upended top-seeded Point Loma 21-25, 25-22, 25-23, 25-22 to capture the Division II championship while top-seeded Hoover swept third-seeded Coronado 3-0 in games to win the Division III title.

Second-seeded Classical Academy upset top-seeded Del Lago Academy 3-1 in games to claim the Division IV championship.

La Jolla edged Mesa League co-champion Otay Ranch 3-2 in games in the Open Division semifinals on May 16. The visiting Mustangs took a 2-1 lead in games on the strength of a 25-22 win in Game 2 and a 25-23 win in Game 3 before the Vikings won Game 4 by a score of 25-18 and captured the match with a 15-3 win in the fifth and deciding game.

The Mustangs did participate in Tuesday’s Southern California regionals, ending their season with a 3-1 loss at fourth-seeded Cypress. Otay Ranch (35-9) won the opening match 25-21 but dropped the next three — 18-25, 22-25, 11-25 — to suffer elimination in the state playoffs.

The Mustangs defeated Westview 3-2 on May 19 in a Southern California regional play-in match. Oscar Campos led Otay Ranch with 17 kills while Logan Clark contributed 11 kills and Roan Sharkey had 10 kills. Evan Diehl collected 42 assists and 11 digs.

The Mustangs eliminated Eastlake, with which they shared this year’s Mesa League title, with a 3-1 quarterfinal playoff victory on May 13.

A total of 11 South County teams qualified for this year’s section playoffs. Only Otay Ranch and San Ysidro (Division IV) won opening-round matchups.

South Bay League champion Castle Park ended its season with a 3-0 loss to seventh-seeded Santana in the opening round of the Division II playoffs.

Hilltop (Division I), Montgomery (Division II), Olympian (Division II), Chula Vista (Division III), Sweetwater (Division III), San Diego Academy (Division III) and Bayfront Charter (Division IV) also were eliminated in the opening round in their respective divisions.