Sailors seeded 3rd

water polo playoffs storyBoys’ water polo teams from Newport Harbor, CdM, Estancia, Costa Mesa and Sage Hill open playoffs this week.Heading into the CIF Southern Section boys’ water polo playoffs, Newport Harbor High is seeded third, as pairings were released Monday.

The Sea View League champion Sailors (21-6) play host to Tesoro (12-10) in a CIF Division I first-round match Thursday.

Corona del Mar (15-12), the Pacific Coast League champion, joins the Sailors in Division I and plays host to Woodbridge (20-4) in the first round Thursday.

The Sea Kings fell in the final last season to third-seeded Foothill, while the Sailors lost to fourth-seeded Harvard-Westlake in the quarterfinals.

Golden West League runner-up Costa Mesa (17-8) opens play at Mater Dei (15-10) in the first round Thursday, and Estancia (13-15) visits El Dorado in a wild-card round today.

The Mustangs and Eagles are both competing in CIF Division II.

Sage Hill (20-7) visits top-seeded Bonita (15-13) in a first-round CIF Division VI matchup today.

All matches are scheduled for 3:15 p.m.

-- Chris Yemma