St. Margaret’s Seeded No. 1 in Volleyball

The Southern Section girls’ volleyball playoff brackets were announced Sunday, and St. Margaret’s, the defending Division V-AA champion, was the only Orange County team to receive a No. 1 seeding for the playoffs, which begin with Division I-AA wild-card matches today.

St. Margaret’s (13-1), the Academy League champion, is led by 6-foot middle blocker Monique Kettler, who has committed to Portland. The Tartans’ only best-of-five loss this season was to Cerritos Whitney, the fourth-seeded team in Division IV-AA.

Long Beach Poly is the top-seeded team in Division I-AA, South Coast League champion San Clemente is seeded second and Esperanza fourth.

In Division I-A, Manhattan Beach Mira Costa is top-seeded, with Mater Dei second, Huntington Beach third and Irvine fourth. Newport Harbor, the two-time defending state Division I champion, was not seeded.

Other county teams receiving seedings were La Habra (second in Division II-A), Corona del Mar (third in Division III-AA), Laguna Beach (second in Division IV-AA) and Liberty Christian (fourth in Division V-A.

Santa Margarita, which won four consecutive section titles entering this season, did not receive an at-large berth in Division II-A.

First-round and wild-card matches are Tuesday and the playoffs continue with matches Thursday and Saturday. The finals are Nov. 17 and 18 at Cypress College.

* PAIRINGS: D17