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Mater Dei earned one of Orange County’s four No. 1 seeds for the upcoming CIF-SS girls water polo playoffs.

In the pairings released by the section Friday, the Monarchs (24-2) claimed the top seed for the eight-team Open Division.

Mater Dei, seeking its first section title in girls water polo, is seeded ahead of No. 2 Newport Harbor (23-3), No. 3 and defending champion Oaks Christian (21-5) and No. 4 Orange Lutheran (18-7).

San Clemente (Division 1), Crean Lutheran (Division 3) and Tesoro (Division 4) also secured No. 1 seeds in their respective divisions.

Crean Lutheran and Tesoro are seeking their first section titles.

Mater Dei, ranked second to Newport Harbor in Orange County, earned the top seed with a 9.7 power rating. Newport Harbor finished the regular season with a 9.4 rating.

JSerra and Corona del Mar also were selected to the Open Division as the No. 6 and No. 7 seeds, respectively. Unlike the other divisions, the Open Division will feature group play.

Group A features Mater Dei, Orange Lutheran, San Marcos and Long Beach Wilson. Group B consists of Newport Harbor, Oaks Christian, JSerra and Corona del Mar.

In Division 1, San Clemente edged Foothill for the top seed. The Tritons tallied a 7.99 power rating to outdistance Foothill at 7.96.

Foothill, a six-time section champion, will compete below the premier division of the section playoffs for the first time.

Earlier this week, the Knights won the Crestview League title outright for a 20th consecutive league title.

Division 1 offers several intriguing first round matches on Feb. 6. Defending champion Laguna Beach plays host to Sunny Hills at El Toro High. San Clemente plays host to Huntington Beach.

In Division 4, if Buena Park and La Mirada win their first round matches on Feb. 5, the Coyotes would face ex-coach Shane LaFortune in the second round. LaFortune resigned at Buena Park in October.

The Open Division and Division 1 semifinals are scheduled for Woollett Aquatics Center on Feb. 18.

The section finals for all divisions are Feb. 21 at Mt. SAC in Walnut.

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