Mira Costa’s water polo team earns Div. 3 fourth seed
Mira Costa’s Ella Pachler goes over a Redondo opponent to get the ball during a Bay League match. The Mustangs are seeded fourth in the CIF-SS Division 3 playoffs. Photo
Mira Costa’s girls water polo team has its sights set on a Division 3 title after dominating Bay League action with an 8-0 record.
The Mustangs (17-10) open the playoffs with a 5 p.m. home game against Righetti (17-7) on Thursday. Quarterfinals take place Saturday followed by the semifinals on Wednesday, Feb. 21. Championship games will be played on Saturday, Feb. 24.
“I’m happy with the seed and I hope we can do better than last year and make a deeper run into the playoffs,” Mira Costa head coach Jon Reichardt said. “I have a great group of athletes that want to play and compete.”
Redondo (22-6), last season’s Division 3 champion, moved up to Division 2 this season and will travel to face No. 1 San Clemente on Thursday.
Also representing the Bay League is third-seeded Palos Verdes (21-12) who defeated Beckman 9-8 in a Division 4 wild-card game on Tuesday.
Tori Barez scored the game-winning goal in overtime for the victory. Barez and Izzy Barajas each scored three goals for Palos Verdes.
The Sea Kings advance to face Poly/Pasadena in the first round on Thursday.
In Division 5, Ocean League co-champion El Segundo (18-10) earned the No. 3 seed and hosted Alemany on Wednesday. The victor advances to take on the Alta Loma-Redlands winner in the second round on Thursday.
Visit cifss.org for complete schedules.