Harbor earns top seed in D-IV - Santa Cruz Sentinel

CCS GIRLS VOLLEYBALL

Harbor earns top seed in D-IV

Eight county teams make section playoffs

Scotts Valley High’s Hayden Smith’s goes for a kill while Harbor’s Cecile Nobembre, middle, and Jocelyn Ruelas block during the SCCAL Tournament championship in Santa Cruz on Wednesday. JOHN LEE — SANTA CRUZ SENTINEL

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By Jim Seimas

jseimas@santacruzsentinel.com

Harbor High’s girls volleyball team received the No. 1 seed in its title defense in Division IV, and eight teams from Santa Cruz County were seeded in the upcoming Central Coast Section playoffs.

Five local teams, Aptos, Monte Vista Christian, Scotts Valley, Pajaro Valley, and Santa Cruz, will compete in Saturday’s first round, with the Mariners, Falcons, and Grizzlies serving as hosts.

The other three local qualifiers, Soquel, Harbor, and St. Francis, will see their first action in Tuesday’s semifinals.

The semifinals will be held Thursday and championships are slated for Nov. 9. The sites and match times haven’t yet been announced.

The Pirates, unbeaten in the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League for two straight years, are hoping to repeat as section champion.

“We have a group of kids that are pretty athletic and really love playing volleyball and they love each other,” coach Matt Schutz said Wednesday, after the Pirates won their second straight SCCAL Tournament title. “We’re just playing really well and we’re peaking at the right time.”

Four local teams will compete in D-III. In Saturday’s first-round action, No. 5 Aptos (12-15), which tied for fourth in the SCCAL, hosts No. 12 Pioneer (20-8) of San Jose at noon, and No. 4 Santa Cruz (15-10), which tied for fourth in the SCCAL, plays at No. 13 Pajaro Valley (17-9) in Watsonville at 7 p.m.

The Grizzlies are hoping to earn an upset on their home court after winning the Pacific Coast Athletic League’s Santa Lucia Division.

No. 3 Soquel (15-13), the SCCAL runner-up, will host the winner of No. 11 Notre Dame of San Jose (16-12) and No. 6 Riordan (13-13) of San Francisco on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Only two other teams in D-III received first-round byes: No. 1 Sacred Heart Cathedral (14-12) of San Francisco and No. 2 King City (18-10).

Three local teams will compete in D-IV. In Saturday’s first round, No. 5 MVC (20-9), the third-place finisher in the PCAL’s Gabilan Division, plays at No. 12 Gunderson (13-7) in San Jose at 2 p.m., and No. 4 Scotts Valley (18-9), the third-place finisher in the SCCAL, hosts No. 13 Stevenson (10-13) of Pebble Beach at 2 p.m. The winner of those first-round matches will square off in the Tuesday’s quarterfinals at 7 p.m.

Harbor (19-9), the defending D-IV champion, hosts the winner between No. 9 Menlo (14-14) and No. 8 Harker (18-8) on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

No. 2 Carmel (21-4), the PCAL Gabilan Division champion, and No. 3 Sacred Heart Prep (18-14) also received byes in the first round.

In D-V, No. 5 St. Francis (15-10), the fourth-place finisher in the PCAL’s Cypress Division, plays at No. 4 University Prep (14-12) in San Jose on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Summit Shasta (23-4) was awarded the No. 1 seed in D-V, Crystal Springs Uplands (23-4), the defending champion is No. 2, and Santa Catalina (15-14) is No. 3.