For the first time in four years two Capital Region volleyball programs were rewarded with top seeds in the CIF NorCal volleyball playoffs. Sac-Joaquin Section Division I champion Oak Ridge received the No. 1 seed in that bracket while D-IV champion Christian Brothers grabbed the top seed in its bracket.
The last time two Sacramento-area programs earned top seeds for the NorCal playoffs was 2005 when Nevada Union earned the top seed in D-I while St. Francis rode its No. 1 seed in D-III all the way to the area's only state volleyball championship.
Oak Ridge (27-11) is also the recipient of the state's only bye as it will wait until Saturday to face the winner of Menlo Atherton (21-8) and third-seeded Amador Valley-Pleasanton (27-9) who play each other when the NorCal playoffs begin on Tuesday at 7 p.m. This marks the third year in a row the Sac-Joaquin Section's D-I champion has received the No. 1 seed as Nevada Union had it in 2007 and 2008.
The Trojans' automatic berth into the NorCal semifinals already ties the furthest any Oak Ridge team has ever gone as last year's squad also made the semis.
D-I section runner-up Nevada Union (34-10) travels to San Francisco Section champion and fourth-seeded Lincoln (31-5) for a first-round match on Tuesday night.
St. Francis (37-6), which swept Rocklin in Thursday's D-II section final, received the No. 3 seed in the D-II bracket behind national No. 1 Archbishop Mitty-San Jose and Palo Alto.
St. Francis opens with Redwood-Larkspur (26-7) on Tuesday and should the Troubadours advance to the semis against Palo Alto they would host due to the fact that Palo Alto lost the Central Coast Section title match to Mitty. Section champions are given priority in hosting.
Rocklin (32-8) will open the NorCal playoffs by traveling to North Coast Section champion and No. 4 seed Petaluma (26-8) when they begin on Tuesday at 7 p.m. The last time the Thunder was in the NorCal playoffs in 2007, it upset Maria Carrillo-Santa Rosa in the first round before falling to Mitty in the NorCal semifinals.
El Camino (32-6), fresh off its first-ever volleyball section championship, is the No. 3 seed in D-III and will take on NCS runner-up Sir Francis Drake-San Anselmo (32-5) in a first-round match on Tuesday night.
Last-year's D-IV state runner-up Christian Brothers (27-9) is the top seed in that bracket and hosts Northern Section runner-up Sutter (36-4) in Tuesday's first round.
Section D-V runner-up Bradshaw Christian (25-11), also making its first-ever appearance in the NorCal playoffs, will face CCS champion and No. 2 seed Mt. Madonna-Watsonville (24-6), which won the 2007 D-V state title, on Tuesday.
East Nicolaus (23-7), the NS's runner-up, is tasked with traveling to top-seeded Branson-Ross (31-5) in Tuesday's first round.
