DIVISION II-AA

Defending champion: Woodbridge.

Top teams: Woodbridge (23-2), Riverside North (20-5), El Monte Arroyo (17-8), Villa Park (15-9).

Dark horse: None. The only team that can beat Woodbridge is Woodbridge. The one team that could fluster Woodbridge is San Clemente in the quarterfinals; Woodbridge has already beaten the Tritons twice.

Top players: Missy Bynon (Villa Park), Stephanie Cain (Santa Maria Righetti), Christina Colon (Loara), Paola Flores (Loara), Julia Gray (North), Jeanine Horton (North), Ty’Esha Lovelace (Cerritos Gahr), Erin O’Neill (Canyon), Melanie Pearson (Woodbridge), Mary Jo Pennington (Villa Park), Ayesha Rembert (North), Meghan Reynolds (Villa Park), Stacy Silva (Cypress), Erin Stovall (Woodbridge), Robyn Templeton (Foothill), Kate Turnbull (San Clemente), Sarah Warnick (Trabuco Hills), Tami Weaver (Woodbridge).

Notes: Perhaps no one was more upset than San Clemente Coach Mary Mulligan, whose second-place team in the South Coast League was placed in Woodbridge’s quarter of the bracket and travels to Yucaipa in the first round. “I wish I was Trabuco Hills,” Mulligan said, referring to her league’s fourth-place at-large team that opens in the opposite bracket against the second-place team from the Century League, Foothill. “We shouldn’t play Woodbridge until the semifinals or finals; I’d play [second-seeded] North in a heartbeat. I think we’re the third-best team in this division.” San Clemente is 15-11, but has losses to Woodbridge (twice), Mater Dei (twice), Fountain Valley and Laguna Hills--all teams seeded in the playoffs--as well as Marina and Esperanza. “I thought strength of schedule was supposed to be a factor,” Mulligan said. . . . At least one coach was sympathetic to San Clemente’s plight--Woodbridge’s Pat Quinn: “I think San Clemente could have been in a better spot; it’s hard to tell by their record, but they’ve played better teams.” . . . Third-seeded Arroyo has played only one Orange County team, Santa Margarita--and lost, 32-27. Santa Margarita is an at-large team. . . . Woodbridge has won 13 in a row since its loss to Westminster.