There’s one week left in the regular season and the CIF-Southern Section playoffs are right around the corner. There is a league title in the Ivy League at stake to preview, a Player of the Week to honor and the CIF-SS playoff calendar.
Lady Broncos earn fourth straight Southwestern League title
The Vista Murrieta girls’ volleyball team has secured a fourth straight Southwestern League championship with their sweep last week of Chaparral at home. Entering this week, the Lady Broncos, ranked No. 14 in the division 1/2 CIF-SS coaches’ poll, have a three-game lead on both the Pumas and Murrieta Valley (who they’ll finish league play with at home). With wins against Great Oak and the Lady Nighthawks, they can secure the program’s first undefeated Southwestern League campaign since 2012. If things end that way, it should equate to a No. 6 seed in Division Two with the top eight teams going into Division One, which will be pool play.
Lady Eagles earn first league title as a Raincross Conference member
For the last few years, Rancho Christian’s teams have competed as freelance entries after their previous league disbanded. That status cost the Lady Eagles a No.1 seed in the 2019 CIF-SS division seven playoffs as there was not an open spot available. In the most recent round of realignment, Citrus Belt Area athletic directors voted for a proposal placing the Eagles into the Raincross Conference. For girls’ volleyball they were placed into the middle (Sunbelt) of their three leagues and with last Thursday’s sweep of Temescal Canyon they clinched the school’s first title in their new conference. Placed into Division Six for the CIF-SS playoffs the Eagles are currently ranked first by their divisional coaches’ poll under first year head coach Luci Villafana.
Ivy League title in the balance
Coming into this final week of the regular season, Paloma Valley is in contention for another league title which would be their fourth straight. They play one league match but it’s away against Elsinore. A win secures no worse than a share of the Ivy League title while a loss means they’d need some help from Hemet and Heritage to win it. In their last ten away games against Elsinore, the Lady Wildcats are 4-6 with three straight wins.
Player of the Week
Mia Rosas  JR  OH  Paloma Valley: Tuesday afternoon the Wildcats visited Riverside needing a win to keep their hopes of a 2022 Ivy League title alive and the junior recorded 13 kills with just 1 error on 28 attempts (.429%) in a four-set win at Riverside Poly.
CIF-SS Coaches Polls
In addition to Vista Murrieta and Rancho Christian earning spots in their divisional polls as mentioned above, Temescal Canyon is receiving votes in Division Six, California Lutheran is ranked ninth in Division Eight while Temecula Prep is receiving votes in that same division.
Playoff Calendar
Here is the CIF-SS playoff calendar. If there are any changes in date, site or time of a match, please email them to sports@reedermedia.com and socaltrekkie@gmail.com. All playoff matches are scheduled for 6 p.m. starts unless another time, site or date is agreed to.
Playoff pairings released Saturday, Oct. 15, by 11 a.m.
Wildcard (if necessary): Oct. 18 (Tuesday)
First Round: Oct. 20 (Thursday)
Second Round: Oct. 22 (Saturday)
Quarterfinals: Oct. 26 (Wednesday)
Semifinals: Oct. 29 (Saturday)
CIF-SS Finals: Nov. 5 (Saturday) at either Cerritos College or campus venues
Derryl Trujillo has been an area sportswriter since 2018 and is the 2019 IEBCA Supporter of the Year award winner. He can be reached via email at socaltrekkie@gmail.com.
