Girls water polo: CdM No. 1, Tars No. 3

Barry Faulkner

CERRITOS - A flip of the coin landed the Corona del Mar High girls

water polo team atop the CIF Southern Section Division IV playoff bracket

Sunday, while Newport Harbor will open Division I action as the No. 3

seed.

Both teams will host first-round playoff foes Saturday, though CdM’s

has yet to be determined. The Sea Kings (16-11) will meet the winner of

Wednesday’s wild-card clash between Cypress and Gahr.

Newport Harbor (21-7) will host Esperanza. Times for both games

Saturday will be mutually agreed upon by the combatants.

Coach John Vargas’s squad, which shared the Pacific Coast League title

with University and Laguna Beach, leap-frogged both with the

aforementioned coin flip. CdM had been ranked third in last week’s

Division IV poll, behind No. 1 Uni and No. 2 Laguna.

Vargas, by virtue of the coin flip, which made CdM the league’s top

playoff entry, followed by Uni and Laguna Beach, was not surprised to get

the top seed. He was, however, mildly perplexed that Uni and Laguna Beach

did not land on the same side of the bracket.

So, instead of a potential semifinal meeting with Bay League champion

Santa Monica (now the No. 3 seed), CdM would most likely face Laguna

Beach, which has defeated the Sea Kings twice this year.

Laguna Beach, officially not seeded, is, most would agree, the

backdoor No. 4 seed. Katella, seeded No. 4, was second in the Empire

League and was not ranked in last week’s Division IV top 10.

“It’s really interesting how that all kind of worked out,” said

Vargas, whose squad is paced by returning starters Danielle Carlson and

Christina Hewko, who led the Sea Kings to the Division IV championship

game last season.

Newport Harbor, which has split with top-seeded Foothill, No. 2-seeded

Santa Margarita and No. 4-seeded Capistrano Valley this season, will get

a first-round test, according to Co-Coach Bill Barnett.

“We beat them the second game of the year and we were lucky to win,

6-4,” Barnett said. “We can’t worry about anything but taking it one game

at a time.”

The Sea View League champions were rewarded for defeating league

runner-up Irvine, which, predictably, according to Barnett, received a

rugged draw.

Irvine visits Marina in the first round, then, if victorious, would

host top-seeded foothill in the Feb. 20 quarterfinals.

“That’s any ugly scenario (facing Irvine),” Barnett said.

The Sailors, who won the Division I title in 1999, are led by returning starters Katherine Belden and Heather Deyden, both seniors, as

well as sophomore Jenna Murphy.