Volleyball takes center

Mike Sciacca

The Orange County Championships is considered one of the premier prep

volleyball tournaments in the Southland. This year’s event, which has

32 teams playing at four locations over a three-day period, only adds

to the prestige.

The tournament begins Friday, continues Saturday and concludes

with division finals Monday.

Edison and Marina will co-host the Division I bracket. Division II

bracket play will be hosted by Newport Harbor and Estancia.

Both division championship finals will be played at Edison on

Monday, with the Division II match beginning at 5:30 p.m., followed

by the Division I final.

“This year’s field is extremely strong and will be highly

competitive once again,” Edison Coach Brian Boone said. “There’s a

lot of parity this year, based on rankings, and it’s a toss-up as to

who will pull through and win this thing.”

Each division features 16 teams, consisting of four pools of four

teams. Ten of the 32 tournament teams are ranked in the top 10 in

various CIF-Southern Section division polls.

San Clemente, the 2004 Division I champion, is back to defend its

title. Locals Edison, Huntington Beach and Marina will contend in the

Division I bracket.

In Division I, the top two teams from each pool will compete in

the eight-team championship bracket at Edison. On Saturday, winners

of the first-round playoff matches will advance to the Gold Division

(first- through third-place), and the losers will play in the Gold

Division consolation (fifth- through seventh-place).

The third- and fourth-place teams from each pool will play in the

Silver Division consolation bracket at Marina to determine places

ninth through 14th.

In Division II, the championship bracket playoffs will be held at

Newport Harbor, and the consolation bracket playoffs will be played

at Estancia.

The tournament begins at 3 p.m. Friday and the final match that

day will be played at 6:45 p.m. The tournament continues Saturday,

beginning at 8 a.m. and runs all day.

All matches are best two out of three games to 25 points rally

scoring. The third game, if necessary, will be played to 15 points.

Here is a listing of the schools in the Division I pools:

Pool 1: Huntington Beach, Laguna Beach, Foothill, Dana Hills; Pool

2: San Clemente, Corona del Mar, Los Alamitos, Marina; Pool 3:

Edison, Mater Dei, Newport Harbor; Capistrano Valley; Pool 4:

Woodbridge, Esperanza, Mission Viejo, Fountain Valley.

Here is a listing of the schools in the Division II pools:

Pool 1: Arcadia, Long Beach Millikan, Valley Christian, Costa

Mesa; Pool 2: Orange Lutheran, North Torrance, Northwood, Cypress;

Pool 3: Clovis West, Lakewood, Canyon, Long Beach Poly; Pool 4:

Tesoro, Estancia, El Toro, Villa Park.

Friday’s schedule

Division I

(at Marina High)

3 p.m.: Huntington vs. Foothill; San Clemente vs. Los Alamitos.

4:15 p.m.: Laguna Beach vs. Dana Hills; Corona del Mar vs. Marina.

5:30 p.m.: Huntington vs. Dana Hills; San Clemente vs. Marina.

6:45 p.m.: Laguna Beach vs. Foothill; Corona del Mar vs. Los

Alamitos.