As expected, Condor League rivals Laguna Blanca and Cate were seeded first and second, respectively, in the 4-A Division when the CIF-SS girls volleyball playoff brackets were released on Saturday.
Santa Barbara and San Marcos are in the 1-AA Division playoffs. Santa Barbara, the Channel League champion, will be home Tuesday night against Palos Verdes, while San Marcos travels to Los Angeles to play Marlborough.
Laguna Blanca knocked off previously top-ranked Cate in their league finale last Wednesday to earn a share of the title with the Rams. The Owls won the coin flip to determine the league’s No. 1 entry into the playoffs.
As the top seed, Laguna Blanca (14-2) received a first-round bye on Tuesday. It will open at home on Thursday against the winner of a first-round match between Bell-Jeff and Burbank-Providence. Cate (13-2) begins its playoff run at home against Rolling Hills Prep on Tuesday. Rolling Hills Prep, the No. 4 team from the Coastal League, is 6-9.
Also getting a 4-A playoff berth is Providence of Santa Barbara. The Patriots, with a record of 11-7, play at Frontier League champion Nordhoff on Tuesday. This is their first playoff appearance in Division 4-A and as a member of the Condor League. They twice made the Division 5-A playoffs as a freelance team in 2011 and 2010.
Santa Barbara (16-10) plays a Palos Verdes team (16-13) that finished third in the tough Bay League behind 1-AA Division No. 2 seed Redondo and Mira Costa.
San Marcos (11-5), which handed Santa Barbara its two league losses, plays a team that finished second to perennial power Marymount in the Sunshine League. Marlborough is 18-4
