Irvine Valley, Feather River earn top seeds as Women's Volleyball Regional Playoffs Begin
Irvine Valley College takes an undefeated 23-0 record as the No. 1 seed into the Southern California Regionals while Feather River and its state-high 30 wins (30-2) was good enough for the #1 seed entering the North Regionals as the road to the 2019 CCCAA State Women's Volleyball Championship tournament begins Saturday night (Nov. 23) with five play-in round games.
IVC is directed by South Coach of the Year Tom Pestolesi and paced by AVCA First Team All-American Kristin Austin. Feather River is guided by North Coach of the Year Sarah Ritchie and features First Team All-American Mere Nagase.
The final four teams that make it through Rounds 1 and 2 from each region will advance to the CCCAA State Tournament to be played at Southwesten College in Chula Vista Dec. 6-8.
CCCWVCA Final Regular Season State Top 25
FINAL REGULAR SEASON STATE TOP 25 RANKINGS
The IVC Lasers were the #1 ranked team in the CCCWVCA Final Regular Season State Top 25 with Feather River at #2. At #3, Fresno City (28-2) completed its 13th consecutive Central Valley Conference title to keep its state-best, conference-only winning streak now at 128 matches. The Pacific Coast Athletic Conference co-champions in #4 Grossmont (24-3) and #5 San Diego Mesa (23-5) occupy the next spots followed by #6 Cabrillo as the Coast Conference North champions kept its Coast-only win streak going at 120 matches after also clinching a 13th consecutive Coast championship. The Seahawks nearly were upset in their conference finale by #18 San Mateo, but won a 5-set thriller, taking the final game 16-14.
American River, the defending state champions, took #7 spot after a 15-match win streak was stopped by #10 Sierra as the pair shared the Big 8 Conference title. Despite tying for third in the Big 8, Folsom Lake and its sparking 6-1 record in 5-set matches grabbed the #8 slot while El Camino won the first-ever South Coast Conference Tournament title for its 10th SCC crown in a row in moving into the top 10 at #9.
The Orange Empire, Big 8 and South Coast all had four teams make the grade for the final regular season rankings.
2019 CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS
SOUTH
Orange Empire-Irvine Valley (16-0)
Pacific Coast Athletic (PCAC)-Co-Champs-Grossmont, San Diego Mesa (14-2)
South Coast-El Camino (16-1)
Western State North-Moorpark (10-0)
Western State South-Bakersfield (12-0)
Inland Empire Athletic (IEAC)-Tri-Champs-Chaffey, Mt. San Jacinto, Desert (8-2)
(note--Desert did not make the 18-team playoff field due to placing third in the conf. tiebreaker and not meeting enough criteria standards by the seeding committee).
NORTH
Bay Valley-Solano (14-0)
Big 8-Co-Champs-American River, Sierra (14-2)
Central Valley-Fresno City (16-0)
Coast North-Cabrillo (12-0)
Coast South-Tri-Champs-West Valley, De Anza, Gavilan (10-2)
Golden Valley-Feather River (10-0)
ALL-AMERICAN, ALL-STATE, ALL-REGION TEAM, click link
FINAL REGULAR SEASON--STATE INDIVIDUAL STATISTICAL LEADERS
Total Kills: Rohyn Huss, LA Harbor, 476, Nia Nix, Citrus 474 (Top North-Isabelle Issak, Foothill, 390)
Kills Per Set: Nix, Citrus, 5.45 (Top North-Haley Del Rio, Solano, 4.18)
Hitting Percentage: Kristin Austin, Irvine Valley, .500 (Top North-Lindsey McLaughlin, Solano, .459)
Total Block Kills: Isabella Bush, Cabrillo, 119 (Top South-Madelyn Harris, San Diego Mesa, 99)
Blocks Per Set: Bush, Cabrillo, 1.23 (Top South-Kari Essef, Moorpark, 1.13)
Total Solo Blocks: Lily Johnson, Orange Coast, 59 (Top North-Bush, Cabrillo 53)
Total Set Assists: Caitlin Donatucci, El Camino, 976, Rachel Wilkocz, San Diego Mesa, 976, Ashlee Dugaio, San Mateo, 975
Assists Per Set: Truth Hafey, Irvine Valley, 12.65 (Top North-Isabella Galang, West Hills Coalinga 9.99)
Total Service Aces: Kelly Donatucci, El Camino, 74, Shelby Bryant, Los Medanos, 74
Aces Per Set: Elizabeth Gannon, Canyons, 0.81, Felicity So'oto, MiraCosta, 0.80, Sara Peterson, LA Harbor, 0.80 (Top North-Sophia Green, Napa Valley, 0.78)
Total Digs: Dakota Hansen, Desert, 597, Alina Fletes, San Diego City, 595, Elena Webster, Ohlone, 590
Digs Per Set: Webster, Ohlone, 6.86 (others ahead in website leaders did not have enough sets played) (Top South-Hansen, Desert, 6.71)
Release/Info by Robert Lewis, CCCWVCA SID/CCCSIA Executive Board