Five Orange County boys volleyball teams are among the eight teams in Division 1 for the CIF Southern Section playoffs that begin next week.

The county teams in the elite division are Sunset League champion Huntington Beach (31-3 overall, 12-0 in league); Sunset League second-place Corona del Mar (21-5, 10-2); Sunset League third-place Newport Harbor (13-16, 7-5); South Coast League co-champion Beckman (28-7, 7-1); and South Coast League co-champion San Clemente (19-8, 7-1).

Huntington Beach is seeded No. 2, behind Mira Costa (28-2). Loyola (27-4) is seeded No. 3 and Corona del Mar is No. 4.

Mater Dei, the Trinity League champion, was eighth in the CIF-SS rankings that were released April 15. If the Monarchs had stayed there then they would be in Division 1.

But they lost to St. John Bosco on Tuesday in four sets, 24-26, 25-23, 22-25, 23-35, in their final Trinity League match, and dropped to No. 9 in the final rankings.

Mater Dei’s Jack Jadon returns a shot for a kill in a Trinity League boys volleyball match against Santa Margarita in Santa Ana on Friday, April 4, 2025. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)

Mater Dei is the No. 1 seed in the 16-team Division 2 bracket.

Divisions 3-9 are 32-team brackets.

Orange County teams occupy the top four seeded positions in Division 2. After top-seeded Mater Dei (22-12-2 overall) is No. 2 Santa Margarita (18-4), which finished second in the Trinity League; No. 3 St. Margaret’s (18-4), the Pacific Coast League champion; and No. 4 JSerra, which tied Servite for fourth place in the Trinity League and qualified as an at-large team.

All six Trinity League teams are in the playoffs. JSerra, Mater Dei, Santa Margarita, Servite and St. John Bosco are in Division 2. Orange Lutheran is in Division 3.

Six of the seven Sunset League teams are in the playoffs: Corona del Mar, Huntington Beach and Newport Harbor in Division 1; Edison and Fountain Valley in Division 2; and Los Alamitos in Division 3.

Division 1 has a pool-play format. The winners of Pool A and Pool B meet in the championship match.

First-round pool-play matches in Pool A are Beckman at Mira Costa and San Clemente at Corona del Mar on Wednesday. The Pool B first round has Newport Harbor at Huntington Beach and Redondo at Loyola. Huntington Beach beat Newport Harbor twice in the Sunset League.

Huntington Beach coach Craig Pazanti likes the pool-play format, which has been in place for a few years in boys volleyball, more than the single-elimination format.

“If you have a bad night you can still make your way back into contention,” Pazanti said. “All of the Division 1 teams have pretty much played each other. I think we’ve played teams in our pool seven times this season.”

The boys volleyball playoffs have expanded to nine divisions from seven divisions in 2024.

Tesoro’s Finn Smith jumps as he tries to block a shot by Beckman in a nonleague volleyball game in Irvine on Thursday, April 17, 2025. Tesoro is seeded No. 1 in Division 3 for the CIF Southern Section playoffs. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)

Tesoro is the No. 1 seed in Division 3. The Titans (14-13) have a first-round bye.

Ocean View (15-8) is the No. 1 seed in Division 7.

First-round matches are Tuesday, April 29, for Divisions 3, 5, 7 and 9. First-round matches are Wednesday, April 30, for Divisions 2, 4, 6 and 8.

Division 1 pool play begins Wednesday, April 30.

Championship matches are May 16 and 17. The Division 1 final is at Cerritos College on May 16 or 17.

Other division finals could be at Cerritos College while others are at home-team sites. The CIF-SS office will announce the specifics after the semifinals are completed.

Spectator admission to the playoff games through the semifinals is $6 for children of ages 5-13 and for students, $12 for adults. GoFan.co is the exclusive ticket source for CIF-SS playoff events.

Admission to the boys volleyball finals is $7 for children and students and $14 for adults, again via GoFan.co.

Last season’s CIF-SS boys volleyball champions: Division 1, Loyola; Division 2, Santa Margarita; Division 3, St. Margaret’s; Division 4, West Ranch; Division 5, Sage Hill; Division 6, Samueli Academy;  Division 7, Ontario Christian.

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