There is no joy in Mudville today, as the CIF state regional volleyball brackets were released, with one noticeable omission: the Wilson Bruins. The same Bruins who finished their season ranked number 8 in the country by ESPN didn’t make the list of eight SoCal teams entered into the bracket, and the same Bruins who took eventual champion Loyola to five sets in their semifinal loss—Loyola went on to sweep Mater Dei in the final.
It might seem ridiculous that one of the final four teams in the sectional bracket didn’t make the eight-team state regional bracket, especially since that team was clearly the second or third best team in the bracket. If it seems that way, it’s because…well, because it is. Well, you’re wondering, doesn’t a state bracket contain teams from more than just Wilson’s Southern Section? Yes, it does—but because of the quality of the SS, four of the eight Division One entrants are from that section—the other four are from the San Diego, Central, and City sections. That means that even though four teams from Wilson’s section made it in, and even though the Bruins were one of the final four teams left in their section, they still get left out. In case you’re interested, here’s how these things happen.
In sectional play, divisions are determined by a number of factors including a school or league’s history, enrollment size, quality level, etc. This is why the Moore League can be division one for some sports (football, basketball, baseball), division two for others (softball) and even division three for others (tennis).
When you get to the state bracket, you throw all those other considerations out, and only consider a school’s enrollment—as a result, a lot of teams that played at lower divisions, against lower talent, get moved into Division One because of their size. That’s why Division IV champ (and nationally unranked) Downey has a spot in the Division One state bracket. It’s a rule meant to level the playing field—what it ends up doing is leaving high-second tier teams with large enrollments out in the cold.
No disrespect meant to Downey or other teams competing on the lower-divisional level, but it’s safe to say this is a flawed system. For the final word, here’s another look at the highlight from last week’s Loyola/Wilson match. Watch how the Bruins play the number two team in the nation, and then decide for yourself if you’re looking at one of the best eight teams in the state.