CIF SOUTHERN SECTION GIRLS’ WATER POLO PLAYOFFS:CdM, Tars both earn seeds

Two local girls’ water polo programs are aiming for the top, another just past the opening round.

The CIF Southern Section playoff pairings were announced Monday afternoon, with Corona del Mar High and Newport Harbor receiving No. 2 and No. 4 seeds, respectively, in Division I.

Costa Mesa received a first-round road match in Division II.

The Division I bracket is loaded with superb programs, like top-seeded Foothill (24-1), CdM (21-6), No. 3 Montebello (21-5) and Newport Harbor (18-9).

The Sailors, the defending Division I champions, open Thursday at home at 3:15 p.m. against the winner of today’s Laguna Hills at Huntington Beach wild-card match.

CdM, winner of five consecutive section titles, the last four in Division II, will play host to Long Beach Poly (15-13) on Thursday at 3:15 p.m.

Costa Mesa qualified for the postseason for the fifth year in a row, but this time its not competing in Division VI. The Mustangs (13-12) play Friday at 3:15 p.m. at Mira Costa (21-7), ranked No. 6 in the final Division II regular-season poll.

Like Costa Mesa, CdM moved up. The Sea Kings could meet their Back Bay rival for the Division I championship if each wins their first three matches. It will be a challenge for both, more so for Newport Harbor.

The Sailors are on the top half of the bracket and will most likely have to get through top-ranked Foothill in the semifinals.

“Foothill has an easy path,” CdM Coach Aaron Chaney said of the program that should easily get past Bell Gardens (6-20) and advance to the quarterfinals, where it will play the winner between Millikan (17-12) and Irvine (15-10).

“Newport and us should have a tough quarterfinal. We were expecting to be seeded where we’re at, but it would’ve been nice to be the first seed because it has a pretty nice road to the semifinals.”

Chaney understands why the Sea Kings, the Pacific Coast League champions, didn’t receive the top spot. They lost three times to Foothill, twice in overtime at prestigious tournaments.

The Sea Kings are looking for another shot at Foothill, but before they earn the opportunity, they’ll have to concentrate on Long Beach Poly.

Chaney said he doesn’t know much about the Jackrabbits, the third-place team out of the Moore League.

“We’ve played Long Beach Wilson, the [Moore] league champ, in our second game of the year and beat them, 8-3,” Chaney said. “We’re just going to do the same thing we do — counter and play defense.”

With seniors Katie Indvik (42 goals, 18 assists), Haley Prickett (36 goals), Cari Levine (30 goals, 23 assists) and Sarah Hutchinson (25), and sophomore Heather Van Hiel (20 goals, 20 assists), CdM has a potent offense.

Senior goalie Kate Murphy has been solid, averaging 4.4 saves a game.

Morgan Vickers has also excelled at goalie for Newport Harbor, which won the Sunset League, considered by many to be the section’s most competitive league with Los Alamitos and Edison also qualifying for the playoffs.

Vickers, a junior, averages seven saves per match, and with senior Sarah Roberts (46 goals), junior Mimi Bury (34 goals, 26 assists), senior Jillian Chiapuzio (23 goals, 23 assists) and senior Allyssa Peterson (24 goals), Coach Bill Barnett has a balanced attack.

Whomever the Sailors open with Thursday, the three-time Division I champions will be the favorites.

The same can’t be said about Costa Mesa in Division II. The young Mustangs play a Mira Costa team that handed them a 13-2 season-opening loss.

“We drew a tough opponent,” said Costa Mesa Coach Tim Postiff of the second-place team from the Bay League. “They were really physical, and it was the first game of the season and the girls didn’t really know what to expect. We have improved and what they went through was a good growth process for the kids.”

Costa Mesa improved while transitioning to Division II from Division VI. It started 1-5, and regrouped to finish 12-7, including clinching a playoff berth in the regular-season finale by beating Sage Hill, 7-2, to claim second place in the Orange Coast League.

Leading the way were the team’s lone seniors — goalie Brittany Mucha, utility player Shyra Crandall and two-meter defender Abbie Dyvig.

Postiff, in his fifth year at Costa Mesa, is counting on the trio to continue their success in the postseason against Mira Costa.

“They were well-balanced, with five or six scorers,” Postiff said of Mira Costa. “We went to the quarterfinals last year and lost to the eventual CIF [Division VI] champ, Downey. We’ll see how [the first round] turns out.”