The Inland Empire's highest-ranked high school girls tennis teams avoided being placed in the elite Open Division bracket when the CIF Southern Section released its playoff pairings Monday morning. That was the good news. On the flip side, however, only one of the six Inland teams that qualified for the Division 1 playoffs will have home-court advantage for Wednesday's openers.
This marks the first season the section used in-season rankings to determine in which playoff division teams are placed. In the past, nearly all league champions were guaranteed a home match in the first round. That is no longer the case. Teams now are slotted into brackets based on their final rankings, and the higher-ranked team hosts in the first round regardless of league placement.
Baseline League champ Los Osos was the lucky one among the group. The Grizzlies (13-1) open at home Wednesday afternoon against JSerra (8-7). Los Osos advanced to the section finals in 2022 and 2023 and finished as the Division 1 runner-up each time.
The other five Inland teams in the Division 1 field will hit the road Wednesday. Southwestern League champion Great Oak (18-1) plays at Peninsula (10-7). Palomares League champion Claremont (10-1) will travel to Orange Lutheran (13-5), while Palomares League runner-up Bonita (14-2) heads to Mater Dei (7-6). Big VIII League champion King (16-7) plays at San Juan Hills (11-5), while Citrus Belt League champion Redlands (13-5) will make the trip to San Marino (14-0).
Arlington got a fortunate break, as well. The Lions finished 40th in the final rankings and could have been the No. 32 seed in the Division 1 bracket. The section instead gave Mira Costa (No. 1 seed in Division 1) a first-round bye, so Arlington (16-2) became the No. 1 seed in the Division 2 bracket. The Ivy League champs also have a bye to start and will host Ambassador League champion Woodcrest Christian (15-0) or Village Christian (12-3) on Friday afternoon.
Five other Inland teams received top-four seedings in their respective playoff divisions.
Roosevelt and San Dimas are the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds, respectively, in the Division 3 bracket. Roosevelt (9-8-2) also has an opening-round bye and will host Apple Valley (18-2) or Santa Barbara (19-5) on Friday. Hacienda League champion San Dimas (13-4) hosts La Canada (6-6) in a first-round match Wednesday.
Upland (12-9) is the No. 3 seed in the Division 4 bracket and opens at home Wednesday against Hesperia (14-6).
Ontario Christian (9-8) is the No. 1 seed in Division 5 and also received a first-round bye. The Knights host Hart (8-12) or Golden Valley (10-8) on Friday. Heritage (9-6) is seeded third in Division 5 and has a bye in the first round. The Patriots host Bishop Montgomery (11-5) or Milken Community (13-4) on Friday.
(Matches scheduled for 2 p.m. Dates, sites and times subject to change)
Village Christian or Woodcrest Christian at Arlington
Bishop Montgomery or Milken Community at Heritage