The 2018 San Diego Section boys volleyball championship games are scheduled May 18-19 in St. Augustine High School’s new gymnasium complex.
Thirteen South County teams, including nine from the Metro Conference, have earned admission to this year’s playoff field — all with an eye on the top prize.
Open Division
Mesa League champion Otay Ranch (21-10) received the No. 6 seed in the double-elimination bracket and an opening-round date on Tuesday at third-seeded Westview (24-8).
Westview finished 8-0 in Palomar League play while Otay Ranch finished 11-1 in the Mesa League standings.
The other six teams to gain entry to this year’s Elite Eight Open Division playoffs include top-seeded La Jolla (31-4), second-seeded La Costa Canyon (25-7), fourth-seeded Point Loma (28-6), fifth-seeded Sage Creek (26-6), seventh-seeded Mt. Carmel (19-9) and eighth-seeded Francis Parker (19-9).
La Jolla, Point Loma, Sage Creek and Francis Parker are all placed in the upper bracket while La Costa Canyon, Westview, Otay Ranch and Mt. Carmel are all placed in the lower bracket.
Second-round play continues on Thursday, May 10, followed by third-round play on Saturday, May 12. Fourth-round play is scheduled May 15. If necessary, a fifth round will be played on May 17.
The upper bracket winner will face the lower bracket winner in the division championship game May 19 at 6 p.m.
A state play-in game is scheduled May 19 at 4 p.m.
Otay Ranch wrapped up regular season play with a three-game sweep over visiting Bonita Vista on May 3. The Mustangs won by scores of 25-16, 25-20, 25-13 on Senior Night.
Prior to that, Otay Ranch won a five-game thriller over visiting Eastlake on May 1 to take over sole possession of first place in the league standings. The Mustangs trailed the Titans, 2-1, before rallying to capture the series on the strengths of 26-24 and 15-11 victories in the final two games.
Seniors Roan Sharkey and Logan Clark led Otay Ranch with nine kills each in the win over Bonita Vista. Senior Ariel Asignacion recorded 15 digs while junior Tyson Duran collected 13 assists.
Clark (18 kills) and Sharkey (12 kills) led the Mustangs in attacking in the comeback win over Eastlake while Sharkey also recorded three serving aces and six blocks. Anininipok tallied 42 digs while Sebastian Morales led the team with 28 assists
Clark leads Otay Ranch with 318 kills on the season, followed by Sharkey (197 kills) and fellow senior Ben Daniels (196 kills).
Daniels leads the team with 50 aces while Sharkey has 85 blocks.
Junior Joel Aninipok Jr. tops the Mustangs with 365 digs, followed by Clark (216), Asignacion (180) and Daniels with (159).
The Otay Ranch Mustangs hope to continue their late season winning streak into the playoffs. Photo by Phillip Brents
Division I
Eastlake, the Mesa League runner-up, received the No. 2 seed in the division and a first-round bye and will host Wednesday’s opening round winner between seventh-seeded Poway (11-19) and 10th-seeded Scripps Ranch (12-19) in Saturday’s quarterfinals.
The Titans finished 10-2 in league play, 16-8 overall.
Torrey Pines (20-13) received the No. 1 seed in the division; Rancho Bernardo (12-10) is seeded third and University City (11-20) is seeded fourth.
Semifinals are May 16. The division championship game is scheduled May 19 at 1:30 p.m.
Division II
Montgomery received the No. 3 seed in the division and will host the winner between Wednesday’s opening round match between sixth-seeded Olympian (14-12) and 11th-seeded Patrick Henry (12-14).
Montgomery finished third in the Mesa League standings with a 9-3 record, 20-6 overall.
Olympian finished fourth in the Mesa League standings with a 4-8 record. The Eagles will host the Patriots in first-round action at 7 p.m.
The Aztecs will host the Olympian-Patrick Henry winner on Saturday, May 12, at 5 p.m.
The division semifinals are May 16.
City Conference Eastern League champion St. Augustine (19-2) received the No. 1 seed while Grossmont Hills League champion Helix (17-6) received the No. 2 seed.
San Pasqual (26-8) received the No. 4 seed in the division.
The division final is scheduled May 19 at 11 a.m.
Division III
San Diego Academy and San Ysidro met on Monday in a play-in game to determine the No. 12 seed for the elimination bracket. SDA won, 3-1, to advance to Tuesday’s opening round match against fifth-seeded Escondido Adventist Academy (14-8).
San Diego Academy, which is located in National City, entered Monday’s play-in game with a 6-1 Citrus League record, 10-14 overall.
San Ysidro, which sewed up a third place finish in this year’s South Bay League standings, entered Monday’s play-in game with a 6-4 South Bay League record, 14-8 overall.
The Cavaliers won by scores of 25-14, 25-19, 22-25, 25-23.
South Bay League champion Sweetwater (10- in league, 18-14 overall) received the No. 8 seed in the division and hosts ninth-seeded Liberty Charter (7-1 in Frontier League, 18-12 overall) on Tuesday, with the winner advancing to meet top-seeded Classical Academy (24-7) in Friday’s quarterfinals.
Tip off for Tuesday’s opening round contest is 7 p.m. at the National City school.
Chula Vista, this year’s South Bay League runner-up with a 7-3 league record (13-6 overall), received the No. 10 seed in the division and will open the playoffs with a first round matchup at seventh-seeded Valhalla (5-5 in Grossmont Hills League, 12-13 overall) on Tuesday. The winner advances to meet second-seeded Coronado (21-10) in Friday’s quarterfinals.
Tuesday’s opening round game also tips off at 7 p.m.
Fallbrook (16-8) received the No. 3 seed in the division while Clairemont (17-3) received the No. 4 seed.
The semifinals are scheduled May 15. The division championship game is scheduled May 18 at 7:30 p.m.
Division IV
High Tech High Chula Vista (fifth seed), Bayfront Charter (seventh seed) and Mar Vista (eighth seed) all earned home court playoff games in Tuesday’s opening round.
Overall, five local teams qualified for the division playoffs. Southwest received the No. 4 seed while Chula Vista Learning Community Charter received the No. 10 seed.
High Tech High CV (6-2 in Frontier League play, 12-10 overall) will host 12th-seeded Health Sciences (5-3) after the Surgeons defeated Warner (9-4) 25-12, 25-18, 25-18 in Monday’s play-in game.
The winner of Tuesday’s game — slated for 3 p.m. at the Salt Creek Recreation Center — advances to meet fourth-seeded Southwest in Friday’s quarterfinals.
Southwest finished fourth in this year’s South Bay League standings with a 6-4 record, 12-11 overall.
Bayfront Charter (6-9 overall) is scheduled to host 10th-seeded Chula Vista Learning Community Charter (6-9 overall) on Tuesday, with the winner advancing to meet second-seeded O’Farrell Charter (25-6) in Friday’s quarterfinals.
Bayfront Charter finished 4-4 in the Apollo League standings, placing third behind O’Farrell (7-1 in league) and King Chavez Community (5-2 in league).
CVLCC finished 3-6 in the Frontier League standings.
Mar Vista finished 2-8 in this year’s South Bay League standings, 7-11 overall. The Mariners will host ninth-seeded High Tech High San Diego (5-14) in Tuesday’s opening round. The winner advances to play top-seeded Madison (15-2) in Friday’s quarterfinals.
Semifinals are scheduled May 15.
Mission Vista (10-16-1) received the No. 3 seed in the division. The division championship game is scheduled May 18 p.m. at 5 p.m.
Metro Conference
2018 Boys Volleyball Standings
(Through May 5)
South Bay League
League/Overall
Sweetwater Red Devils 10-0, 18-14
Chula Vista Spartans 7-3, 13-6
San Ysidro Cougars 6-4, 14-8
Southwest Raiders 4-6, 12-11
Mar Vista Mariners 2-8, 7-11
Mater Dei Catholic Crusaders 1-9, 5-16
Mesa League
League/Overall
Otay Ranch Mustangs 11-1, 21-10
Eastlake Titans 10-2, 16-8
Montgomery Aztecs 9-3, 20-6
Olympian Eagles 4-8, 14-12
Bonita Vista Barons 3-9, 4-19
Hilltop Lancers 3-9, 8-17
Castle Park Trojans 1-11, 5-15
Bruins experience major turnaround in 2018
Talk about a complete 180 turnaround! Only a year ago, the High Tech High Chula Vista Bruins boys volleyball team found itself in last place, finishing the season with a 2-20 record.
Fast-forward one year later and the Bruins have exceeded expectations, capping off the regular season with a 12-10 record to earn the No. 5 seed in the upcoming San Diego Section Division IV playoffs.
Led by six standouts — hitters Marcus Torres, Beto Ureño and Vincent Ferrer, middles Lucas Franco and Ethan Guevara and setter Jacob Robinette — the Bruins have rebounded from a rough 2017 season to prove that are a force to be reckoned with this postseason.
The team, comprised of two seniors, seven juniors, two sophomores and three freshman, had eight returning players this season, compared to just the two returners who were on the team last year. Experience has proven to be the guiding force in a young Bruins squad, according to coach Austin Kane.
High Tech High Chula Vista will host 12th-seeded Health Sciences on Tuesday, May 8, at 3 p.m at the Salt Creek Recreation Center in the first round of the 2018 playoffs.
Season highlights:
- 12-10 overall record
- 6-2 record in Frontier League matches
- Third-place finish at the O’Farrell Charter Tournament
- Current three-game win streak
- Seeded fifth in the San Diego Section Division IV playoffs
- Captains: Marcus Torres and Vincent Ferrer
- Coaches: Austin Kane and Paul Landeros
Frontier League Standings
(Through May 8)
League/Overall
Liberty Charter 7-1, 18-12
High Tech High Chula Vista 6-2, 12-10
Health Sciences 3-1, 5-3
High Tech High San Diego 3-5, 5-14
Chula Vista Learning Community Charter 3-6, 6-9
Gompers Prep Academy 1-7, 7-14
Apollo League Standings
(Through May 8)
League/Overall
O’Farrell Charter 7-1, 25-6
King-Chavez Community 5-2, 7-3
Bayfront Charter 4-4, 6-9
School for Entrepreneurship & Technology 1-6, 1-14
Children’s Creative & Performing Arts Academy 0-5, 2-7
