SAN DIEGO COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL NOTEBOOK : Playoff Format Puts Spotlight on Weaker Teams

There were pros and cons concerning the 16-team format for the San Diego Section football playoffs. By implementing the new format, many teams with losing records made the playoffs, and those teams were quickly eliminated in the first round Friday and Saturday.

But on the other hand, three teams that wouldn’t have made the playoffs under a 12-team format advanced by defeating seeded teams that would have otherwise received a bye.

Orange Glen, which is in 3-A, and Ramona and St. Augustine, in 2-A, were all fourth-place teams in their respective leagues. All three defeated teams that finished first in their leagues.

Orange Glen defeated Helix, the Grossmont 3-A champs, 14-6, to advance to the quarterfinals. Orange Glen (6-5) will play Point Loma (7-4) Friday at Mesa College.

Ramona defeated Crawford, first place in the City Central League, 17-3. Ramona (7-4) will play Mission Bay (9-2) Saturday at San Diego High School.

And St. Augustine defeated No. 3 seeded Kearny, 18-16. St. Augustine will play San Pasqual at San Pasqual Saturday.

Patrick Henry and Vista in the 3-A and Valhalla, San Marcos and University City in the 2-A all went into the playoffs under .500 and lost.

Serra, which had won the section field hockey championships nine of the past 10 years, lost to Mira Mesa, 3-1, in overtime penalty strokes Saturday following a 17-1 season.

Serra Coach Laurie Berger was dealing with a fairly young team this year with only two seniors in the starting lineup.

Those two seniors plus one junior were the core of Serra’s scoring. Senior Etheline Mendoza, a three-year varsity forward, scored 38 points and had 14 assists for Serra this year. Team co-captain Kelsey Monagan, also a senior forward, scored 11 goals and had 13 assists.

A player who will make a major contribution again next year is junior Barb Hansen, who led Serra with 21 assists and scored five goals.

After rolling through the season undefeated and beating Torrey Pines for the Division I volleyball section title Saturday, Poway (19-0) is seeded second in the Southern California Regionals which begin today. That is the highest a San Diego team has ever been seeded.

Coach Lisa Reis, in her ninth season at Poway, recorded her 201st victory Saturday. Under Reis, Poway has won five of the past six section titles.

No Division I or II school from San Diego has ever made it past the first round. Last year, Poway lost to Mira Costa in the first round. This year, Mira Costa is seeded first.

Poway, ranked fourth in the state, will play Pacific Palisades tonight at 7:30 at Poway.

Poway has played Pacific Palisades before, splitting games at the El Camino tournament.

“I expected to be seeded high,” Reis said. “We’re lucky because we’re the home match. It will be great to have the home crowd. You can use any help you can get.”

If Poway wins, it will be host to the winner of the Corona del Mar-Bakersfield match Saturday.

Torrey Pines, ranked ninth in the state, will play at Royal tonight.

USDHS, which defeated La Jolla for the Division II section title, will play at La Habra.