CdM tops three local seeds

Rick Devereux

The Corona del Mar High girls water polo team was the preseason No. 1

squad in CIF Southern Section Division II in December and has kept

the top spot in every poll this season. The Sea Kings continued to

lay claim to the top billing in the division with a No. 1 seed in the

playoffs.

CdM (20-7) will play host to Savanna (13-17) Friday at 3:15 p.m.

Newport Harbor (24-3) earned the No. 2 seed in Division I and will

play host to Huntington Beach Thursday at 3:15 p.m.

Costa Mesa (19-9) grabbed the No. 4 seed in Division VI and will

play host to La Quinta from Westminster (9-11) Friday at 3:15 p.m.

Corona del Mar has a 15-6 record against CIF Southern Section

playoff teams, including a 5-3 victory over Division I No. 1 seed

Santa Margarita.

The Sea Kings, the three-time defending CIF Division II champions,

are led by a collection of scoring threats and a top-notch defense.

Senior Jordan Anae, a second-team All-CIF selection last year,

leads the team with 64 goals, while junior Camille Hewko and

sophomore Katie Indvik are tied with 41.

Goalkeeper Brittany Fullen has 208 saves this season, including

back-to-back 16-save performances against Laguna Beach, seeded No. 2

in Division II, as well as Division I playoff contender and South

Coast League champion El Toro.

Fullen, a three-year starter, was the Division II Player of the

Year last year and shared Pacific Coast League MVP honors with Hewko,

a first-team All-CIF performer a year ago.

CdM, which won its sixth straight league title, will play the

winner of the El Dorado-Valencia game. The second round is Feb. 22.

All but seven games on Newport Harbor’s schedule were against CIF

Southern Section playoff teams, and three other opponents (Coronado,

The Bishop’s and Carlsbad) are San Diego playoff powerhouses.

The Sailors’ losses this season included two to Foothill (23-3)

and one to Santa Margarita (21-6). The Knights are the No. 4-seeded

team in the Division while the Eagles are the division’s top-seeded

squad.

Newport Harbor, the defending Division I champion, had a 20-game

winning streak snapped by Foothill, 9-8, in the final of the Santa

Barbara tournament.

But the Tars also beat the Knights (twice) and Santa Margarita

this year.

Anne Belden, a first-team All-CIF selection last year as a junior,

leads the team with 76 goals, while senior Ashling Taylor, a

second-team All-CIF honoree last year, is second with 69 goals.

The duo can take over a game by themselves -- Belden scored seven

goals against Irvine and Taylor scored nine against Long Beach Wilson

-- but the Sailors are hard to stop when both players compliment each

other.

Newport rotates goalies Kendal Nelson (99 saves) and Elizabeth

Layton (97).

Newport’s second-round opponent will either be South Coast

runner-up San Clemente (14-14) or Moore League runner-up Millikan

(20-8). Newport might face Almont League champion and No. 3 seed

Montebello in the semifinals. The Sailors beat Montebello, 14-8,

earlier this year.

Costa Mesa finished second in the Golden West League to No.

3-seeded Orange because of a 5-2 loss in league. But the Mustangs

have defeated Division I powerhouse Long Beach Wilson, Division II

playoff team Santa Ana Valley, and Division VI playoff entries Bolsa

Grande, Garden Grove and Saddleback.

Mesa is led by senior Sarah Bowman on offense and Kelly Gentling

in goal.

Bowman has close to 45 goals this year while Mesa has held eight

opponents to two or fewer goals.

The Mustangs will face either Ocean League champion Santa Monica

(13-11) in the second round or Jurupa Valley (18-12), the team that

ousted Mesa in the quarterfinals last year.