Sailors get top seeding

The Newport Harbor High girls volleyball team is seeded No. 1 in

the Division II Southern California Regional, the opening portion of

the CIF State Championships, that begins Tuesday night.

Coach Dan Glenn’s Sailors (26-6), who swept all four playoff

opponents en route to winning the CIF Southern Section Division II-AA

title, including a title-match triumph over Westlake Saturday at

Cypress College, will host Highland High of Bakersfield (10-9)

Tuesday at 7.

Pairings were released Sunday by the CIF State office.

The Sailors earned the nod over Mater Dei, the Southern Section

Division II-A champion, for the top seed. The No. 1 seeding makes

Newport Harbor the home team throughout the regionals.

The second round is scheduled Nov. 30, with the regional final set

for Dec. 3. The state title match is scheduled Dec. 7 at 5 p.m. at

Cypress College.

Highland was the runner-up in the Central Section to Liberty High,

also from Bakersfield.

Mater Dei (No. 2), Liberty (No. 3) and San Diego Section champion

San Pasqua (No. 4), based in Escondido, round out the top seeds.

Westlake is seeded sixth among eight Southern California Regional

qualifiers.

Newport Harbor, which has now won seven section titles, including

four in the last six seasons, is seeking its fifth state

championship. The Tars won state Division I titles in 1999, ’98 and

‘94, after claiming the Division III crown in ’92.