Southern Section Volleyball Playoffs : Too Many Teams Cause an Overflow in 4-A Matchups

With 24 teams qualifying for a 16-team draw, it appears boys’ volleyball has outgrown the present Southern Section 4-A playoff structure.

Boys’ volleyball, one of the Southern Section’s fastest growing sports, has added four leagues in the past two seasons. The 4-A, the top division for boys’ volleyball, became an eight-league division this season with the addition of the Pacific Coast and Del Rey leagues.

With each league sending its top three teams into the playoffs, there is an automatic surplus of eight teams in the 4-A’s 16-team draw and no chance of an at-large team qualifying. It also means that for all practical purposes, today’s eight wild-card matches amount to first-round competition, matching No. 2 and No. 3 league qualifiers.

“There are just too many teams,” said Charlie Brande, Corona del Mar coach. Corona del Mar, the No. 2 team from the Sea View League, plays at home against Laguna Hills (No. 3, Pacific Coast League) today.

Karen Hellyer, Southern Section administrator, said that if volleyball continues to grow at this pace, a 32-team playoff in the 4-A could appear as soon as next season.

“We need another league or two for that to happen,” she said.

Under the present 4-A system, all No. 1 league qualifiers were placed in Thursday’s first round, but none were given opponents. That will be determined by today’s matches. For instance, the winner of the Corona del Mar-Laguna Hills match, called wild-card game E, will play Sunset League champion and third-seeded Edison.

In other 4-A wild-card matches involving Orange County teams:

El Toro (South Coast, No. 3) plays at Marina (Sunset, No. 2); Huntington Beach (Sunset, No. 3) plays at San Clemente (South Coast, No. 2); University (Sea View, No. 3) plays at Laguna Beach (Pacific Coast League, No. 2).

Santa Monica (Ocean) is the 4-A’s top-seeded team, Loyola (Del Rey) No. 2, Edison No. 3 and Woodbridge (Pacific Coast) No. 4.

Four Orange County teams qualified for the 32-team 3-A playoffs. First-round competition begins Thursday.

La Quinta (Garden Grove, No. 1) plays at home against Redondo (Pioneer, No. 3); Bolsa Grande (Garden Grove, No. 2) plays at Whittier Christian (Whitmont, No. 2); Garden Grove plays at second-seeded Los Altos (Whitmont, No. 1) and Mater Dei (Angelus, No. 2) plays at St. Bernard (Camino Real, No. 1).