Two South County CIF San Diego Section volleyball champions crowned

The Olympian High School girls volleyball team has captured its third consecutive San Diego Section championship – and second at the Division II level – but the title is the first for head coach Mauricio Martinez.

“I had some big shoes to fill coming in,” said Martinez, who follows previous head coach Stephen Lamb, who led the Lady Eagles to their previous two CIF championships.

“It was a matter of focusing at my end and working hard by the girls to make a winning team.”

Top-seeded Olympian (25-9) swept third-seeded Mt. Carmel in three sets – 25-22, 25-13, 25-14 – in last Saturday’s finals at Cathedral Catholic High School.

Lauren Appelman led the Lady Eagles with 13 kills while teammate Johanna Langarica contributed four kills.

Briana Torres paced the Lady Eagles with five blocks while Deara White and Appelman each contributed four blocks.
Yvette Macias and Andrea Ramirez each served three aces for Olympian.

State playoffs

Olympian finished runner-up in last year’s Division III state championship game to Valley Christian. Last Saturday’s win — the Lady Eagles’ sixth consecutive — earned the South County team a berth in this year’s Division III state playoffs.

The Lady Eagles, seeded ninth, will not be making a return trip to the state finals this year after suffering  a 3-1 setback at eighth-seeded Mission Hills Alemany on Wednesday. Olympian won the first game 25-22 but dropped the next three 23-25, 13-25, 23-25.

Regional quarterfinal action continues Saturday, Nov. 19, followed by semifinal games on Tuesday, Nov. 22, and regional finals are scheduled Nov. 26. The state championship is Dec. 3.

Three other San Diego Section teams received berths in this year’s Division III state playoffs: West Hills (seeded second), Westview (seeded sixth) and Mt. Carmel (seeded 10th).

Lady Cobras capture Division V title in all-South County match-up
Chula Vista Community Learning Charter entered its name in the history books by not only advancing to the small private school’s first San Diego Section division championship game — but winning it.

The top-seeded Lady Cobras (21-0) defeated another South County private school, the National City-based San Diego Academy, in a straight sets sweep 25-10, 25-11, 25-15 last Friday at Canyon Crest Academy.

The second-seeded Lady Cavaliers finished their season 12-9.

Brenda Meza led CVLCC with 12 kills in the championship match while sister Glenda  Meza had 11 kills.

Glenda Meza also contributed 12 aces and had 20 assists. Brenda Meza had 11 aces and Denise Lopez had 21 digs.
Both Meza sisters are juniors.

The Lady Cobras’ division championship comes after a 1-18 season in 2015.

Jazmin Fuentes, who was credited with eight kills, two aces and seven digs, earned honors as the Lady Cobras’ player of the match.

CVLCC head coach Marleena Catalan called Fuentes “a well deserving player who works hard to keep the team intact.”
Iyonia Hollie paced SDA with seven kills.

CVLCC’s season did not end there as the Lady Cobras were entered in the Division V state playoffs and met second-seeded Capistrano Valley Christian in Wednesday’s opening round. CVLCC, seeded 15th in the regional draw, finally did end its season with a 3-0 loss by highly competitive scores of 25-21, 25-20, 25-18,

Maranatha Christian, another team from the San Diego Section, received the No. 7 seed in the state regional playoff bracket.

Lady Mustangs fall 3-0 to Lady Nighthawks in Division I final
Otay Ranch High School made its second trip to the San Diego Section finals in three years but came up with the same result as the Lady Mustangs recorded a runner-up finish.

Second-seeded Del Norte (22-10) defeated fourth-seeded Otay Ranch (27-7) by scores of 25-16, 26-24, 27-25 last Saturday at Cathedral Catholic High School.

Ryann Mojica keyed the Lady Mustangs with 13 kills in the division championship game while Karen Cordero contributed nine kills and tacked on 16 digs.

Chloe Foreman had four blocks while Grecia Cordero contributed 29 digs. Shannon Casey tallied 20 assists in the setback.

Hailey Henderson led Del Norte with 10 kills while teammate Kjia Rivers had six blocks.

Otay Ranch had defeated its three previous playoff opponents all in five sets but went down 3-0 to the Lady Nighthawks.

However, the Lady Mustangs’ otherwise noteworthy season was extended with an invitation to the Division II state playoffs. Otay Ranch defeated seventh-seeded Santa Ana Foothill three games to one in Wednesday’s opening round road match.

The Lady Mustangs were seeded 10th; Del Norte was seeded fifth. Two other San Diego Section teams also received berths in the state playoffs: Cathedral Catholic (seeded first) and Ramona (seeded third).

Lady Titans lose, win in Open Division playoffs
Playing in the San Diego Section’s Open Division does have its perks. Metro-Mesa League champion Eastlake earned the No. 8 seed in this year’s Open Division playoffs and dropped a highly competitive three-set match to top-seeded Torrey Pines on Nov. 4 in the quarterfinal round.

While many teams might have thought this was the end of their season, the Lady Titans received a bonus — a match against fifth-seeded Cathedral Catholic for state placement seeding on Nov. 10. Eastlake won the Division I seeding match three games to two to earn the No. 8 seed in the regional bracket.

Cathedral Catholic appeared to be on the verge of a 3-0 sweep after winning the first two games 25-23, 25-12 before the visitors reeled off three consecutive victories: 25-14, 25-23, 15-6.

The Lady Titans retained their momentum by defeating ninth-seeded Temecula Great Oak 17-25, 25-15, 22-25, 25-22, 15-11 on Wednesday.

San Diego Section
Girls Volleyball champions

Open Division: Santa Fe Christian defeated La Costa Canyon
Division I: Del Norte defeated Otay Ranch
Division II: Olympian defeated Mt. Carmel
Division III: El Capitan defeated Classical Academy
Division IV: Maranatha Christian defeated Horizon Christian
Division V: Chula Vista Learning   Community Charter defeated San Diego Academy