The562’s coverage of Long Beach Volleyball in the 2022-23 school year is sponsored by Misty May-Treanor and the Dream in Gold Foundation.
The 2023 CIF-SS Boys’ Volleyball brackets were released on Saturday morning, with local teams learning of their postseason draw for next week’s wild card and first round of competition. The Long Beach area has a handful of teams in this year’s playoffs spread across three different divisions.
Here’s a look at where all the local teams were placed for this year’s postseason.
CLICK HERE to view the brackets in all divisions.
Division 2
The Wilson Bruins have been nothing short of tremendous this season, going 30-1 while pulling in another Moore League title. They were rewarded with the top seed in Division 2, setting them up for another deep playoff run. The Bruins won their first CIF title in program history two years ago in Division 3, but have only seen their talent level rise since winning that ring.
The Bruins will host Marina in round one next Thursday at 6 p.m. A win there would set up a matchup with either Royal or Orange Lutheran in the second round.
“We’re really lucky to be in the position that we’re in,” said Wilson head coach Chris Ceballos of the draw. “Number one in D2 sets us up for success, but there’s tons of talented teams that are scattered all over this bracket. We’ve played a lot of them, but anything can happen in the playoffs. We’ve just got to come in focused and ready to go. We’re excited for this opportunity.”
Elsewhere in D2, the Moore League’s second place team, Millikan, is hosting Corona Santiago in Thursday’s first round. If the Rams win that matchup, they would likely meet No. 2 seed Servite in Saturday’s second round, if the Friars can get past Capistrano Valley Christian.
Moore League No. 3 seed Long Beach Poly is on the road in round one, traveling all the way to Santa Barbara. The Jackrabbits would then match up with the winner of Aliso Niguel and Foothill.
Division 4
The boys’ volleyball playoffs officially get started on Tuesday for the Long Beach area teams as the Jordan Panthers will open play in the D4 wild card round. J-Town finished fourth place in league to earn an automatic playoff berth, and they’ll visit Malibu with a chance to play their way into the bracket. A win along the coast would set up a first-round meeting with Quartz Hill on Thursday.
Division 5
St. Anthony cruised to a 10-0 record in the Camino Real League this season, earning a home playoff match to begin their postseason run. The Saints will await the winner of a wild card to see who they’ll face in round one, and it could be one of three opponents. Liberty Christian will play the winner of Costa Mesa and Westminster on Tuesday for the right to visit Jack Errion Gym on Thursday.
Also of note in the D5 bracket, Avalon on Catalina Island is the top seed in the bracket with a 21-5 overall record this season.
