PREP VOLLEYBALL / SOUTHERN SECTION PLAYOFFS : Only Three of 31 County Teams Still Alive

Orange County teams have been eliminated with surprising speed in the Southern Section girls’ volleyball tournament this season, but three county teams are still alive. Two have advanced to tonight’s semifinals and another has secured a spot in Saturday’s finals.

Ocean View, St. Margaret’s and Laguna Beach are the only teams remaining from a total of 31 county teams that qualified for the tournament.

Ocean View (16-1) will play at Paso Robles (18-0) in the Division IV semifinals and St. Margaret’s (17-3) will play at Los Angeles Brentwood (14-3) in the Division V semifinals at 7 p.m. tonight. Laguna Beach (15-2) will play Manhattan Beach Mira Costa in the Division I final at 7 p.m Saturday at Cypress College.

Ocean View, which shared the Golden West League title with Rosary, is having its best season in school history. The Seahawks are led by Katie Lindquist, a senior setter/outside hitter and the team’s only returning starter. Lindquist’s sister, Tracy, is a freshman who also starts at setter.

Second-seeded Paso Robles, which won a Southern Section title in 1988, is led by outside hitter Sarah Larson, who is a two-time, second-team All-Southern Section Division IV selection.

St. Margaret’s, which finished in a three-way tie for first place in the Academy League, lost a coin flip and was entered as a Division V wild card. The Tartans beat fourth-seeded Mayfield (17-3) in five games in the quarterfinals to advance.

Top-seeded Brentwood, which has won eight consecutive Delphic League titles, is the defending Southern Section Division V champion and the two-time defending State champion.