Santa Margarita Atop Water Polo Seedings

Santa Margarita is the No. 1-seeded Division I team in the Southern Section girls’ water polo playoffs that begin today with wild-card games.

The Eagles will play host to the winner of today’s game between Mission Viejo Capistrano Valley and Long Beach Millikan on Thursday in a first-round game.

Santa Ana Foothill, the top-ranked team in the division until it lost to Santa Margarita two weeks ago, is seeded second, Newport Harbor third and Lake Forest El Toro fourth.

Santa Barbara earned the top spot in Division II after its 11-7 victory last week over second-seeded Ventura in a Channel League game. The Dons will play the winner of today’s wild-card game between Thousand Oaks and Oxnard Rio Mesa.

Division III and Division V will compete in 32-team brackets that begin first-round play today.

Three-time defending champion Bell Gardens is the top-seeded team in Division III and Crescenta Valley is No. 2.

Riverside Arlington is the top-seeded team in Division V after defeating second-seeded Riverside North last week in the final of the Ivy League tournament. North is not one of the seven teams that received first-round byes because it is not a league champion.

Corona del Mar is the top-seeded team in Division IV, followed by fellow Pacific Coast League members Irvine University and Laguna Beach. Because Laguna Beach finished third in league, it will host a wild-card game today against Placentia Valencia.

Dan Arritt