SOUTHERN SECTION VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS : Newport Harbor, Whittier Christian Receive Top Seedings

Newport Harbor and Whittier Christian are the top-seeded teams in their divisions for the Southern Section boys’ volleyball playoffs, which begin Wednesday.

Newport Harbor has earned a first-round bye in Division 4-A and will play host to the winner of the El Toro-Santa Margarita match in the second-round May 19. The Sailors, who lost to San Marcos in the 4-A finals last season, finished the regular season 15-1.

Sailor Coach Dan Glenn will be without two starters--Beau Sheward and Louie Baker. Sheward was kicked off the team for disciplinary reasons and Baker was cut for missing practices.

“We’re not as far along now as I would like,” Glenn said. “Having a week off (because of the first-round bye) should help us.”

Whittier Christian will play host to the winner of the Camp Kilpatrick-Santa Monica St. Monica match in the first round of Division 2-A Friday. The Heralds (16-1) are the defending 2-A champions.

Esperanza is the third-seeded team in Division 3-A and will play the winner of Bishop Montgomery-La Quinta in the first round Friday.

Championship matches in all divisions will be played May 30 at Cerritos College.

The schedule (all matches 7:30 p.m. start unless noted):

Wednesday--Wild-Card Round: Division 3-A--Bishop Montgomery at La Quinta, Santa Fe Springs Santa Fe at Western, Los Alamitos at North Torrance. Division 2-A--Calvary Chapel at Montebello Cantwell Sacred Heart.

Friday--First Round: Division 4-A--El Toro at Santa Margarita, Edison at Capistrano Valley, Woodbridge at Laguna Beach, Fountain Valley at Redondo Union, Estancia at Huntington Beach, Crescenta Valley at Irvine, Laguna Hills at Corona del Mar. Division 3-A--El Modena at Upland, Foothill at Downey, Los Amigos at South Torrance, Bishop Montgomery-La Quinta winner at Esperanza, Elsinore-Hemet West Valley winner at Valencia, Santa Fe-Western winner at Garden Grove, Los Alamitos-North Torrance winner at Long Beach Poly. Division 2-A--Camp Kilpatrick-Santa Monica St. Monica winner at Whittier Christian, Los Angeles Murphy-Pasadena Poly winner at St. Margaret’s, Calvary Chapel-Cantwell Sacred Heart winner at Los Angeles Windward.