Providence High girls’ volleyball hosts Bell-Jeff in CIF first round

In a season in which the Bellarmine-Jefferson High girls’ volleyball team had its seven-year run as Santa Cruz League champion snapped, it still finds itself in the CIF Southern Section Division 4-A playoffs looking to further another streak.

Bell-Jeff will make the short journey to play host and nonleague rival Providence on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

The Guards and Pioneers, who will be joined in the postseason by Burbank and Burroughs in Division 2A, squared off as usual in the regular season, with Bell-Jeff winning for the seventh consecutive time in the rivalry.

To the winner, it would be hard-pressed to say would go any spoils, as top-seeded Laguna Blanca (14-2) awaits, as the Condor League co-champion received a bye into Thursday’s second round and will host the winner.

Providence, which took second in the Liberty League at 6-3, is 16-7 overall, while Bell-Jeff, having taken third in the Santa Cruz League with a 4-4 mark, is 8-4, including the win over the Pioneers, 26-24, 23-25, 25-18, 25-21 on Oct. 1.

Another rivalry matchup played a major role in the playoffs, as well, as Burbank swept Burroughs on Tuesday, thereby forcing a tie for second place in the Pacific League, but the Bulldogs earned the tiebreaker thanks to the sweep after Burroughs’ previous league win over Burbank came in four games.

On the strength of its last victory, Burbank (15-6) earned a first-round home match Tuesday at 7 p.m. against Temescal Canyon (7-7), the second-place finisher in the Sunbelt League.

Should Burbank advance, it would play Tuesday in the second round against No. 1 seed Whittier Christian or a wild-card entrant.

Burroughs (18-9), meanwhile, is headed on the road to face Desert Valley League champion Palm Springs (14-2) on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

The winner will move on into a second-round matchup Thursday against Camarillo or Cerritos Valley Christian.