Mater Dei’s girls volleyball team is No. 1 in the CIF Southern Section’s combined rankings for Divisions 1 and 2. Beckman is No. 1 in Division 3.
No. 1 in Division 4 is Capistrano Valley Christian, which might have the best chance of any Orange County team to win a CIF-SS volleyball championship when the playoffs begin in two weeks.
Capistrano Valley was 21-3 overall and 8-0 in the San Joaquin League going into its league match Thursday against Fairmont Prep. Capistrano Valley Christian has swept in three sets all of its league matches.
The Eagles are not one of the taller teams in Orange County. Kenna Henjum, a 5-foot-7 senior outside hitter, says the team has been very good at making the most of what it has.
“Our strongest asset and the way we beat other teams are our serving and our defense,” she said “We’re passing super well and we don’t let the ball hit the ground. We’re not a tall team so we have to rely on our defense and our serving.”
Henjum was All-CIF Southern Section last year when the Eagles advanced to the CIF-SS Division 5 semifinals in which they lost to eventual champion Buckley. They lost in the Division 7 finals two years ago.
Senior setter Addison Williams was All-CIF last year. Williams has 288 assists, second on the team to junior setter Shauna McDowell’s 354 assists. Senior libero Camille Solovjev has a team-high 320 digs, junior opposite hitter Ava Nilsson has 143 kills, second to Henjum’s 238.
Capistrano Valley Christian has climbed from Division 7 to Division 4 in three years because the CIF-SS competitive equity system will do that to successful teams.
Eagles coach Kelle Bond said the team is ready for the Division 4 challenge, and not just because this is another skillful Capistrano Valley Christian team.
“They’ve approached it with grit and dedication,” Bond said. “The sacrifice and leadership of our seniors has been pretty contagious. This group of senior girls, most of them have been with us since their freshman year and they’ve set a standard of sacrifice and service to each other.”
Henjum, whose older brother Kashton Henjum was an All-County second-team receiver as a senior last year at Newport Harbor, sees the same elements of team-first attitudes among her teammates.
“We’re almost like kindred spirits,” Henjum said. “We’re a super-sacrificial team. We all have the mindset of doing what’s best for the team.”
Capistrano Valley Christian’s losses were to Orange County Top 10 teams – No. 5 Orange Lutheran, No. 6 JSerra and No. 10 Dana Hills. The Eagles play at Dana Hills on Oct. 12 in their final game of the regular season. A win there, or a solid showing, would add to the momentum Capistrano Valley Christian has already established going into the playoffs.
NOTES
•The CIF-SS girls volleyball playoff pairings will be released Oct. 14. Division 1 again will have eight teams competing in pool play (two pools) beginning Oct. 16. Those eight teams will be the top eight teams in the final Divisions 1 and 2 combined rankings. CIF-SS assistant commissioner Mike Middlebrook, in charge of the section’s management of girls volleyball, said this might be the final season of the eight-team, pool-play format for Division 1. The 2024 season might see for the Division 1 playoffs have four three-team pools or a return to a single-elimination bracket. …
•Divisions 2-9 for the girls volleyball playoffs will be traditional 32-team brackets. Divisions that have more than 32 automatic qualifiers will play wild card-round games Oct. 17 to reduce the field to 32 teams for the first round. …
•Orange County’s No. 2-ranked girls volleyball team, Huntington Beach, rallied to beat No. 4 Los Alamitos in a Sunset League game Tuesday at Los Alamitos. Los Alamitos won the first two sets, 28-26 and 26-24. Huntington Beach won the last three sets, 25-22, 25-16, 15-5. …
•The resumption of the Orange County releaguing process is likely to start Oct. 23. The football-only conferences proposal that passed in the spring remains intact. The work to be done is deciding what non-football conferences and/or leagues will look like. …
•All of the CIF State championship football games this season will be played in Southern California on Dec. 8-9. The 15 games will be held at Saddleback College, El Camino College and Pasadena City College. After the regional championship games, the CIF State will announce which games will be be played at each location. …
•Tustin’s football team was No. 22 in our preseason Top 25. The Tillers are No. 12 this week. …
•Having seen that team play, Mater Dei’s freshman football team would be a CIF-SS playoff team or even a league champion if it played in several of the Orange County public school varsity football leagues. …
•Is current Mater Dei quarterback Elijah Brown as good as his predecessor Bryce Young was when Young was at Mater Dei? They’re different quarterbacks. Brown is more of the pocket passer, Young more of the type who could quickly slide left or right and throw bullets on the run; both are accurate and both excellent decision-makers with great vision. …
•Since graduating from Mater Dei, Young has won a Heisman Trophy at Alabama and now plays for the NFL’s Carolina Panthers.
•Among the many big football games next week, on Oct. 13, is Mater Dei at St. John Bosco, Orange Lutheran vs. Servite at Cerritos College, Santa Margarita at JSerra, San Clemente at Mission Viejo and Capistrano Valley at Tesoro.
•Ray Fenton of Los Alamitos will coach the North and Dan O’Shea of St. Margaret’s will coach the South in the Orange County North-South All-Star Classic on Feb. 3 at Newport Harbor High. …
•The National Letter of Intent signing period for most sports begins Nov. 8 and remains open until Aug. 1, 2024. For basketball, there is a one-week early signing period that starts Nov. 8. The early signing period for football begins Dec. 20.
