The 2024 San Diego Section fall sports championship playoffs are underway in girls volleyball, girls field hockey and boys water polo and about to commence in girls flag football.
It’s a crowded schedule but a rewarding one for those teams that make it to find their pot of gold at the end of the playoff rainbow.
Girls volleyball will crown its divisional champions this weekend at three playing sites. The El Capitan Lady Vaqueros (Division I) and the Santana Lady Sultans (Division III) both represented East County in semifinal games this week with the opportunity to qualify for a berth in the CIF championship round.
E
l Capitan, seeded fourth in the 16-team draw, defeated No. 13 Santa Fe Christian (25-23, 25-21, 25-18) in first-round action on Oct. 29 and No. 5 Otay Ranch (25-21, 25-25, 13-25, 25- 17) in last Friday’s quarterfinals to move on to Tuesday’s division semifinal against No. 9 Rancho Bernardo (18-17).
The winner will meet the winner between No. 2 Eastlake and No. 11 Pt. Loma in Friday’s Division I final at 7:30 p.m. at Southwestern College.
Rancho Bernardo upset No. 8 Del Norte, 3-0, and No. 1 Sage Creek, 3-1, in successive rounds to meet Grossmont Hills League champion El Capitan (19-11, 8-0 in league play).
Pt. Loma upset No. 3 Christian, 3-1, in last Friday’s quarterfinal after Christian had eliminated No. 14 Helix in a 3-0 first round sweep (25-20, 25-20, 25-12).
No. 5 Santana (20-6) pushed aside No. 12 Valley Center in a 3-0 sweep (25-11, 25-21, 26-24) in the opening round, then defeated No. 13 Steele Canyon, 3-1 (15-25, 25-22, 25-15, 25-20), in Saturday’s quarterfinals to advance to Wednesday’s semifinal match-up against No. 1 High Tech High San Diego (23-7).
Wednesday’s winner advances to meet either No. 2 Brawley (27- 11) or No. 11 (Olympian (16-20) in Saturday’s Division III final at MiraCosta College (7:30 p.m.).
Steele Canyon upset No. 4 Central Union, 3-2 (25-20, 26-25, 23-25, 21-25, 15-13)) in a five-game thriller in the first round.
Boys water polo
Santana received the No. 4 seed in the Open Division while Valhalla received the No. 1 seed in Division I. Both teams advance to quarterfinal games.
Grossmont Hills League runner-up Valhalla (12-8) will meet Tuesday’s first-round winner between No. 8 Mt. Carmel and No. 9 Coronado on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at La Jolla High School.
Grossmont Hills League champion Santana (22-5) was scheduled to meet No. 5 Carlsbad (21-7) on Wednesday, with the winner to meet either No. 1 Cathedral Catholic or No. 8 Canyon Crest Academy in the semifinals on Tuesday, Nov. 12.
All Open Division teams will get a crack at qualifying for the state playoffs through a consolation bracket.
Other East County playoff qualifiers include No. 6 Helix (13- 12) in Division I, No. 2 Granite Hills (13-11), No. 8 Steele Canyon (14-4), No. 10 Grossmont (4-16) and No. 12 El Capitan (13-10) in Division II and No. 7 West Hills (11-12) in Division III.
Granite Hills will meet Thursday’s first-round winner between Grossmont and La Jolla Country Day in Saturday’s quarterfinals at 12:15 p.m.
Fall Sports Championship Schedules
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
Open Division: Saturday, Nov. 9, at University of San Diego, 7:30 p.m.
Division I: Friday, Nov. 8, at Southwestern College, 7:30 p.m.
Division II: Friday, Nov. 8, at Southwestern College, 5 p.m.
Division III: Saturday, Nov. 9, at MiraCosta College, 7:30 p.m.
Division IV: Saturday, Nov. 9, at MiraCosta College, 5 p.m.
Division V: Saturday, Nov. 9, at MiraCosta College, 2:30 p.m.
Division V-AA: Thursday, Nov. 7, at MiraCosta College, 7 p.m.
GIRLS FIELD HOCKEY
Saturday, Nov. 16 Eastlake High School
Open Division: 6 p.m.
Division I: 3:30 p.m.
Division II: 1 p.m.
BOYS WATER POLO
Saturday, Nov. 16 La Jolla High School
Open Division: 7 p.m.
Division I: 5 p.m.
State play-in game: 3 p.m.
Division II: 1 p.m.
Division III: 11 a.m.
GIRLS FLAG FOOTBALL
First-Round
Division I: Wednesday, Nov. 13
Division II: Tuesday, Nov. 12
Division III: Wednesday, Nov. 13
Division IV: Tuesday, Nov. 12
GIRLS TENNIS TEAM FINALS
Open Division: (1) Canyon Crest Academy 13, (2) Del Norte 5
Division I: (1) La Jolla Country Day 10, (2) Scripps Ranch 8
Division II:(2) La Jolla 12, (1) Steele Canyon 6
Division III: (4) Clairemont 10, (14) University City 8
