The second-round games of the CIF Southern Section boys volleyball playoffs in Divisions 3-7 will be played Saturday.
Mission Viejo is among the many Orange County teams looking to further their season. So far, it has been an excellent season for Mission Viejo, throughout the Diablos program.
All three Mission Viejo teams – varsity, junior varsity and frosh-soph teams – went 9-0 in league play.
“They’re all neighborhood kids, too,” said Mission Viejo varsity coach Ryan Thurlow. “I’m a teacher and part of my job is finding the tall kids and getting them fired up about volleyball.”
Mission Viejo, 19-4 overall, won its CIF-SS Division 3 first-round match at home, beating Elsinore in three sets, 25-19, 25-21, 26-24. The Diablos were the home team for a first-round CIF-SS playoffs match for the sixth year in a row.
They play at Wiseburn Da Vinci (26-7) Saturday at 6 p.m. in the second round.
Diablos senior outside hitter Davis Howery had a team-high 22 kills in the win over Elsinore. Junior setter Michael Carmargo had 57 assists. Thurlow said senior middle blocker Alexander Frost was another key contributor to Thursday’s win.
Mission Viejo trailed 20-15 in the third set before rallying for the 26-24 win.
Thurlow said that the third set exemplifies the players’ spirit.
“They seem to always be resilient,” he said. “When we’re down five or six points in a set we always seem to be able to come through. They just buy into the Mission way which is being the smarter team on the court, keep the ball in play and let the opponent make the mistake.”
The quarterfinals are Wednesday in Divisions 2-7. Semifinals in those divisions will be played May 4, with finals May 11.
The eight-team Division 1 playoffs are in a pool-play format. The second round of pool play is Tuesday with the third and final pool-play round May 4. The Division 1 final is May 11 at Cerritos College.
Division 1 pool-play winners in the first round Wednesday were Loyola and Newport Harbor in Pool A, Mira Costa and Corona del Mar in Pool B.
Among Tuesday’s second-round pool play matches is Huntington Beach at Newport Harbor, a matchup of Surf League teams, and Tesoro at Corona del Mar. Edison plays at Mira Costa and Mater Dei is at Loyola on Tuesday.
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