SOUTHERN SECTION PLAYOFF PAIRINGS : Some Surprises Among the Status Quo After Seeding Process : Girls’ volleyball: In an unusual draw, Corona del Mar must play wild-card match.

Chins must have dropped county-wide. Corona del Mar, listed as a wild-card in the Southern Section Division I girls’ volleyball playoffs?

Must have been a misprint. But the playoff pairings, released Monday at the section office in Cerritos, were right on.

Newport Harbor (24-1) surprised no one by earning the top-seeded position and will play the winner of tonight’s Redondo-Trabuco Hills match Thursday at home.

But the Sea Kings (22-3), the defending State, section and mythical national champions, must play a wild-card match tonight against Mater Dei, which tied Capistrano Valley for second in the strong South Coast League, to earn a place in the main draw, where a semifinal date with third-seeded Laguna Beach is a possibility.

Corona del Mar’s absence in the main draw was a numbers game, traced to its two losses to Newport Harbor in the Sea View League.

Laguna Beach Coach Mike Soylular figured the Artists (14-5) would get the second-seeded spot--it went to Long Beach St. Anthony--but was relieved when they didn’t.

Provided Corona del Mar knocks off the Monarchs, “we would have had to play Corona del Mar in the first round,” he said.

Coach Mike Hurlbut wasn’t disappointed that Dana Hills (13-1) wasn’t seeded among the top four teams. The Dolphins will play the Los Angeles Marlborough-Laguna Hills winner Thursday but must defeat fourth-seeded Agoura for a shot at the Sailors.