Mater Dei Girls Are No. 1 Seed in Southern Section 3-A Tennis

The Mater Dei High School girls’ tennis team, which won the Angelus League title and had a 20-0 record during the regular season, will be the top seed of the CIF Southern Section 3-A playoffs, which open Thursday.

“We’re really excited, but we thought we should be (seeded first),” Becky Allec, Mater Dei tennis coach, said. “Nobody’s too cocky around here, but we felt that we deserved to be No. 1.”

Mater Dei will play host to Katella, the third-place team from the Empire League, at 2 p.m. Thursday. The Monarchs have defeated the Knights, 16-2, this season.

In the 2-A playoffs, defending champion and Garden Grove League titlist La Quinta (19-1) was the No. 1 seed. In the 4-A division, Sea View League champion Corona del Mar was seeded fourth.

Newport Harbor, which finished third in the tough Sea View League behind Corona del Mar and Woodbridge, will play host to Fountain Valley in a 4-A wild-card game today. The winner will face Beverly Hills in Thursday’s first round.

News of Newport Harbor’s wild-card status came as a surprise to Sailor Coach Charlie Bleiker.

“We were ranked ninth (in the CIF 4-A poll); we shouldn’t have (to play) a wild-card game,” he said.

Southern Section girls’ tennis pairings 4-A: Miraleste (1) vs. Millikan, Edison vs. Capistrano Valley, Redondo vs. Arcadia, North Torrance vs. Santa Barbara, Marymount vs. Rolling Hills, Torrance vs. Santa Ana, El Modena vs. Riverside Poly, Mission Viejo vs. Corona del Mar (4), Glendale vs. Westlake (3), Wild-card winner vs. Beverly Hills, Hoover vs. Rio Mesa, Lakewood vs. Marina, San Gorgonio vs. Woodbridge, Long Beach Wilson vs. Laguna Hills, Palm Springs vs. Foothill and Ventura vs. Palos Verdes (2). Wild-card match: Fountain Valley vs. Newport Harbor.

3-A: Katella vs. Mater Dei (1), Norco vs. Los Altos, Sonora vs. Los Alamitos, San Gabriel vs. La Canada, Sunny Hills vs. Claremont, Nogales vs. John W. North, South Pasadena vs. Calabasas, Paramount vs. Westlake (4), Schurr vs. Thousand Oaks (3), Bishop Montgomery vs. Agoura, Walnut vs. Cerritos, St. Lucy’s vs. Alhambra, Downey vs. Cypress, Connelly vs. Fullerton, Glendora vs. Hemet and Newbury Park vs. San Marino (2).

2-A: Savanna vs. La Quinta (1), Righetti vs. Keppel, Whittier vs. South Hills, Antelope Valley vs. Louisville, Wild-card winner vs. Valencia, San Bernardino vs. Brawley, Los Amigos vs. La Mirada, Immaculate Heart vs. Lompoc (4), Palmdale vs. Chaminade (3), Rosemead vs. San Luis Obispo, Central vs. La Serna, Glenn vs. Northview, Workman vs. Barstow, Western vs. Garden Grove, El Monte vs. Burroughs of Ridgecrest and Victor Valley vs. Indio (2). Wild-card game: Bellflower vs. Montebello.