Three Orange County Teams Are One Step From Final

Three county teams remain in the girls’ volleyball state tournament, and all three face formidable opponents in tonight’s Southern Regional finals at 7 p.m.

Laguna Beach plays at top-seeded Bakersfield Centennial in Division I, Huntington Beach hosts Westlake Village Westlake in Division II and Calvary Chapel plays at Bakersfield Garces in Division IV. The winners earn spots in the state final Saturday at Cal State Fullerton.

The Artists (25-2) defeated top-seeded Manhattan Beach Mira Costa to win the Southern Section Division I-AA championship Nov. 23.

In case anybody wondered if that victory was a fluke, the Artists defeated the Mustangs again, Saturday, to advance to the regional final.

Centennial (33-1), which defeated Fountain Valley to advance to the regional final, has been ranked No. 1 in the state for most of the season.

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In Division II, the second-seeded Oilers (22-2) have yet to be pushed too hard in the postseason--they’ve lost only one game in six playoff matches. The one game they lost was in the Southern Section Division II-AA final, when they took four games to defeat top-seeded Santa Barbara.

Westlake (18-3) could be the Oilers’ first big challenge. Although the Warriors were upset by Santa Margarita in the Southern Section Division II-A final, they have many powerful weapons.

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After winning the state Division IV title last year, this was supposed to be a rebuilding year for Calvary Chapel, but the young Eagle squad has far surpassed expectations.

Calvary Chapel (18-7) stumbled in the Southern Section Division IV-A final, losing to Cerritos Valley Christian, a team it had twice defeated during the regular season.

But after upsetting top-seeded La Jolla The Bishop’s in the first round of the state tournament, Calvary Chapel got another chance against Valley Christian in the second round. Calvary Chapel won in five games to advance to the regional final.

The Eagles are led by sisters Kelly and Jill Overby. Kelly is a freshman outside hitter and Jill is a sophomore middle blocker.