Sea Kings, Eagles earn top-four seeds

Barry Faulkner

Estancia High, which claimed a share of its first boys volleyball

league title since 1984 and has not been to the CIF Southern Section

Playoffs since 1994, will join the familiar Back Bay tandem of Corona

del Mar and Newport Harbor in this year’s CIF playoffs, beginning

Friday.

The Golden West League champion Eagles (26-10) are the No. 3 seed

in Division III, and CdM (17-11), which claimed the Pacific Coast

League crown, is the No. 2 seed in Division II in the pairings

released Monday at the Southern Section office.

Newport Harbor (19-11), co-champion of the Sea View League, is

unseeded in Division I.

Estancia was swept in its final regular-season match Thursday at

fellow co-champion Ocean View, the Eagles’ only Golden West defeat in

12 matches. But third-year coach Tracey Heims said it may help her

players focus as they enter the postseason.

The Eagles, led by junior outside hitters Kris Hartwell and Josh

Kornegay, will open at home Friday against Century, the third-place

representative from the Orange League. The Eagles should not lack

confidence, since they beat the Centurions, 15-3, 15-5, 15-3, in the

nonleague season opener March 3.

CdM, which saw its run of five straight section title-match

appearances interrupted last year, when it lost in the Division IV

semifinals, received a first-round bye. Not having to play until May

20 could be a welcome break for the Sea Kings and Coach Steve Conti,

who saw 6-foot-7 senior middle blocker Eric Jones leave Friday’s

four-game nonleague loss to Newport Harbor after aggravating a

sprained right ankle.

The Sea Kings, who have battled injuries all season, are also

hoping senior Bart Welch, out the last couple weeks with a sprained

ankle, can return during the postseason. CdM will face either Citrus

Belt League champion Arrowhead Christian or Canyon of Anaheim in the

second round at CdM. Canyon, which won the CIF Division III title

last season, is coached by CdM graduate Matt Winterburn, who played

on the Sea Kings’ 1989 CIF championship squad, then went on to play

for a state championship team at Orange Coast College, before playing

professionally on the beach.

Winterburn, a first-year walk-on who was an assistant to former

CdM Coach Joey Fushetti with the Sea Kings before Conti took the

helm, said Canyon lost five starters from last year’s championship

squad. He also said 6-7 senior John Parfitt, the CIF Division III

Player of the Year last season, has battled knee and shoulder

injuries this season, though he has averaged more than 30 kills per

match.

Newport Harbor, which Coach Dan Glenn believes is playing its best

volleyball of the season, opens at home Friday against Long Beach

Poly (19-10), the third-place team from the Moore League. The

Jackrabbits won the Division II title at the Orange County

Championships this year and stand between the Sailors and a

postseason rematch with No. 2-seeded San Clemente.

Newport eliminated the Tritons in four games in the Division II

second round last season. Newport also knocked San Clemente out of

the playoffs in the Division I second round in 2000.

This season, however, the South Coast League champions boast a

26-1 record.

Valencia of Valencia is the No. 1 seed in Division II, where San

Marcos and Santa Barbara are seeded No. 3 and No. 4, respectively.

Camarillo is the top seed in Division III, where Downey is No. 2

and Ocean View is No. 4.

Loyola is top-seeded in Division I. San Clemente, Huntington Beach

and Westlake, respectively, round out the top four.