The 2015 high school girls volleyball season has a couple of weeks left in regular season play before the start of the San Diego Section playoffs. The post-season looks to be kind to the Metro Conference, in general, and to such teams as the Eastlake Lady Titans, Olympian Lady Eagles, Montgomery Lady Aztecs and Mar Vista Lady Mariners, in particular.
Olympian captured last year’s Division III championship and is now the top-rated team in this year’s Division II power rankings. Montgomery is third in this year’s Division III power rankings while Eastlake, which may be the conference’s best team, is sixth in the Division I power rankings. Mar Vista is third in the Division V power rankings.
“The power rankings have begun to match up teams at the same level,” Sweetwater coach Erik Hernandez explained. “Competition in the playoffs will be competitive and gives all of our teams a chance to win the first match and make it to the quarterfinals.”
Hernandez’s Lady Red Devils certainly didn’t do any damage to their No. 9 power ranking among Division IV teams after defeating Metro-Pacific League rival Chula Vista in comeback fashion on Wednesday to complete the opening round of league play on top of the standings with a 3-0 record.
The Lady Spartans won the first two games by highly competitive scores of 25-17, 25-23 to take a 2-0 edge in the best-of-three match. But visiting Sweetwater seemed to gain strength as the afternoon wore on and rode the momentum of three consecutive wins to post the dramatic 3-2 victory. Sweetwater won the final three games by scores of 25-20, 25-15, 15-12 to prevail in the battle of league unbeatens.
Cheyenne Martinez led the Lady Devils (14-13 overall) with 19 kills while Breeanna Reid had 35 assists and Martha Flores had 12 digs. Flores scored the match-winner on an ace. Chula Vista, which is seeking a berth in the Division V playoffs, dropped to 2-1 in league, 6-10 overall.
“It took a whilefor us to get going, before some of our hitters stepped up,” Hernandez said. “We were sick and tired, but we knew what was at stake. We’ve been working hard all season for this and wante to play as a team and make it worth it. Hopefully, we can continue to do well and carry some momentum into the second round of league play.”
Sweetwater and Chula Vista will not meet in post-season play but will rematch in the teams’ league finale Nov. 6 in National City.
The Lady Spartans are 11th in the Division IV power rankings.
As it looks like right now, in the Metro Mesa the team to beat is Eastlake with a 6-0 league record (18-12 overall), followed by Olympian, which is 4-1 in league, 20-9 overall, with its only league loss to Eastlake.
In the Metro-South Bay League, Montgomery (20-5 overall) appears to be running away with the banner with a 5-0 league record. Mar Vista is 2-2 in league play, 12-10 overall.
Hernandez called the Metro-Pacific League “a tight league.”
The upcoming CIF playoffs could get interesting, the SuHi coach noted.
“We currently have 10 of the 13 teams in contention to be in the playoffs,” Hernandez said. “All the games should be close and excirting. It’s really fun for all the teams in the Metro Conference. It’s nice that it’s so competitive.”
Otay Ranch, which finished runner-up in last year’s Division II finals, is currently fifth in this year’s Division II power rankings with a 19-11 overall record. The Lady Mustangs are 3-3 in Metro-Mesa play.
Prep Scoreboard
Friday, Oct. 30
Metro-Pacific League
Sweetwater def. Hilltop 17-25, 25-20, 25-12, 25-21. Cheyenne Martinez led the Lady Red Devils with 18 kills while Victoria Garcia had 16 digs and Breeanna Reid had 37 assists.
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