Familiarity Breeds Water Polo Title Games

The Southern Section boys’ water polo playoffs, which continue today at Belmont Plaza in Long Beach, are looking more like an extension of the regular season.

Four of the six division championship matchups feature teams that competed in the same leagues this fall, and a fifth, the Division I final Tuesday between North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake and Long Beach Wilson, features teams that are no strangers to one another.

In one of today’s two finals, Sunset League foes Anaheim Esperanza and Los Alamitos will play for the Division II championship at 7:30 p.m.

Los Alamitos rallied from a one-goal deficit at the start of the fourth quarter to defeat the Aztecs, 10-9, on Nov. 5 to win the league title.

In today’s other championship game, Rolling Hills Estates Peninsula will meet Montebello for the Division III title at 6 p.m. Neither has previously played for a section title in boys’ water polo.

Miramonte League rivals La Verne Bonita and Hacienda Heights Los Altos will play for the Division VI title at 5 p.m. Tuesday. Los Altos ended the Bearcats’ 96-game league winning streak earlier this season.

That game will be followed by the Division V matchup between La Verne Damien and Chino Hills Ayala at 6:30 p.m. Damien swept Ayala in its three Sierra League meetings this season.

The nightcap, beginning at 8, will feature Harvard-Westlake, looking for its first Division I title in its fourth final, against defending champion Long Beach Wilson, winner of six of the last seven Division I titles and seven of the last nine. The Wolverines defeated Long Beach Wilson, 9-8, last month in their annual nonleague match.

-- Dan Arritt

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Unbeaten and top-seeded Rolling Hills Estates Peninsula (22-0) will be bidding for its 11th Southern Section girls’ tennis title when the Panthers play 2002 runner-up Beverly Hills in the Division I championship match today at The Claremont Club.

Second-seeded Beverly Hills (16-2) is a familiar Bay League rival that the Panthers have already beaten twice this season. Beverly Hills lost to Calabasas in the division final last season, when Peninsula lost to Corona del Mar in the quarterfinals, failing to advance to the title match for the first time in school history.

Beverly Hills features one of the best singles players in Southern California in UCLA-bound Riza Zalameda, but Peninsula is a solid, mature team with depth.

Top-seeded Fullerton Troy (20-3) makes its fifth consecutive appearance in the Division II championship match and will be going for its second title against second-seeded Santa Barbara (17-2). Troy, which relies on sophomore Cosmina Ciobanu and junior Clare Fermin, won the 2001 title over Newport Harbor.

Top-seeded North Hollywood Campbell Hall (20-0), the Division III runner-up last season, goes for its first title against third-seeded Long Beach Poly. This match is likely to include some of the best singles matchups of the day, with Ally Krasnopolsky, Daron Moore and Cheyenne Reveche playing for Campbell Hall and sisters Ivana, Mindy and Vania King leading the Jackrabbits (18-2).

Top-seeded Ventura St. Bonaventure (19-0), led by top players Katie Callaghan and Raine Mitchell, plays for its second consecutive Division IV title against second-seeded Oxnard (17-3).

Kelly Stewart leads fourth-seeded Malibu (17-2), which upset top-seeded Newport Beach Sage Hill in the semifinals and plays unbeaten and second-seeded Anaheim Savanna (22-0) for the Division V championship.

Lauren Peterson

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Four Southern Section teams were top-seeded in the Southern Region when the pairings for the girls’ state volleyball tournament were released Sunday.

First-round games begin at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.

Southern Section Division I-AA champion Anaheim Esperanza (31-2), which beat Sunset League rival Los Alamitos Saturday to win its first section title, earned the top seeding in Division I and plays host to Downey Warren (19-7), which fell to Temecula Chaparral in the Division I-A title match.

Santa Ana Mater Dei (32-3), which beat Redondo Union in the Division II-A title match for its third consecutive section title, is the top-seeded team in Division II and plays host to Visalia Mt. Whitney (25-6).

Santa Margarita (24-7), which swept Irvine Northwood to win the Division III-AA title, is seeded No. 1 in Division III and plays host to La Jolla (27-8).

Los Angeles Marymount (31-1) is the top-seeded team in Division IV and plays host to Bakersfield Garces (18-2). The Sailors, winners of the Division IV-AA title, have won three straight section titles and are after their third consecutive state championship.

City champion Palisades (16-1), which beat Granada Hills for its 22nd City title, was seeded No. 4 in Division I and plays host to Los Alamitos (23-9).

-- Paul McLeod