Lady Titans are queens in the sand once again

The Eastlake High School girls beach volleyball team appears to have set the standard among Sweetwater Union High School District teams after capturing its second consecutive San Diego Section Division II championship title.

The third-seeded Lady Titans defeated top-seeded Academy of Our Lady of Peace, 4-1, Saturday at San Diego Mesa College to build on last year’s division title over Canyon Crest Academy.

Eastlake returned 10 girls off last year’s CIF championship team to form the core of this year’s highly successful squad.

“My returners with playoff and championship experience were crucial to help us get to the championship match this year,” EHS coach Lizbeth Lau said. “It’s not really a secret but I tell my kids to win the matches in the first round — for example, twos and fives played in the first round during the championship match — and if they do, then it puts pressure on the other team to win all three matches in the second round.

“Also, I’m not a big fan of pairing two defenders together, but I’m a believer that defense wins games. So, I had to change a couple of pairings leading up to the championship match.”

The Lady Titans (12-11) ran the table once again this year in the CIF bracket with a 5-0 first-round win over No. 14 Oceanside (3-16), a 5-0 quarterfinal win over No. 11 Sage Creek (6-12) and 3-2 win over No. 2 San Dieguito Academy (11-11) in the semifinals to reach the championship match against the Lady Pilots (16-8).

The championship game victory avenged a 4-1 non-league loss to OLP on April 22.

Key players this year included first team all-league selections Presley Ruperto, Kaycee Papa, Ari Ruperto and Noelle Barcas and second team picks Alyssandra Macias and Brooke Hidalgo.

The Metro Conference is divided into three leagues for girls beach volleyball: the Metro-Mesa League, Metro-South Bay League and Metro-Pacific League.

This year’s Metro-Mesa League lineup included Eastlake, Helix, Olympian, Bonita Vista and Otay Ranch. Helix (13-8) won the league title with an 8-0 record, followed by Eastlake at 6 6-2.

Helix received the No. 10 seed in the Division I playoffs. The Lady Highlanders upset No. 7 Mission Hills (8-11) in the opening round before ending their season with a 5-0 loss at No. 2 San Marcos (19-4), the eventual division champion.

The 2026 Metro-South Bay League included Hilltop, Mar Vista, Montgomery and Steele Canyon.

Steele Canyon (15-4) won the league title with a 6-0 record and advanced as far as the Division II semifinals against OLP, dropping a 3-2 match. The Lady Cougars previously defeated No. 13 Pacific Ridge, 5-0, in the opening round and No. 5 Mira Mesa, 3-2, in the quarterfinals.

This year’s Metro-Pacific League lineup featured Sweetwater, Castle Park, San Ysidro, Chula Vista and Southwest.

Sweetwater (6-7) won the league title with a 6-2 record but lost a Division II play-in round match to Olympian, which promptly ended its season with a 5-0 loss to the No. 1 Lady Pilots in the first round.

Otay Ranch received the No. 9 seed in the Division II playoffs but lost to No. 8 Francis Parker in the opening round.

Boys Volleyball Finals pairings set

BOYS VOLLEYBALL
From the sand to the indoor hard court, pairings have been set for this weekend’s San Diego Section boys volleyball championship games.

Thursday, May 14
Division V-AA
(1) Escondido Adventist Academy (15-4) vs. (2) Bayfront Charter (15-8), 5 p.m. at Logan Memorial
Semifinals: (1) Escondido Adventist Academy defeated (5) Bonsall, 3-0; (2) Bayfront Charter defeated (3) Army-Navy Academy, 3-1

Division IV
(1) Tri-City Christian (23-4) vs. (3) Christian (25-7), 7:30 p.m. at Logan Memorial
Semifinals: (1) Tri-City Chriatian defeated (4) Oceanside, 3-1, (3) Christian defeated (2) San Ysidro 3-0

Friday, May 15
Division I
(1) Canyon Crest Academy (22-13) vs. (6) Eastlake (17-20), 5 p.m. at Mission Hills High School
Semifinals: (1) Canyon Crest Academy defeated (4) Del Norte, 3-1; (6) Eastlake defeated (2) Westview, 3-2

Open Division
(1) Bishop’s (37-3) vs. (2) Torrey Pines (32-7), 7:30 p.m. at Mission Hills High School
Semifinals: (1) Bishop’s defeated (4) la Costa Canyon, 3-0; (2) Torrey Pines defeated (3) Francis Parker, 3-0

Saturday, May 16
Division V
(1) Del Lago Academy-(4) Pt. Loma winner vs. (2) Hoover (23-9), 11 a.m. at MiraCoata College
Semifinals: (1) Del Lago Academy (25-7) vs. (4) Pt. Loma (18-12), Thursday, May 14; (2) Hoover defeated (3) Central Union, 3-1

Division III
(3) Mission Bay (28-6) vs. (4) Olympian (22-14), 1:30 p.m. at MiraCosta College
Semifinals: (3) Mission Bay defeated (7) San Pasqual, 3-0; (4) Olympian defeated (1) Sweetwater, 3-1

Division II
(2) San Marcos (29-11) vs. (5) Bonita Vista (23-14), 4 p.m.
Semifinals: (2) San Marcos defeated (3) Mission Hills, 3-1; (5) Bonita Vista defeated (1) Coronado, 3-1

All-Metro semifinals pairing ends with Olympian victory over top-seeded Red Devils

The stage was set in Wednesday’s Division III semifinals in National City for one surviving Metro Conference team — either the top-seeded Sweetwater Red Devils or the fourth-seeded Olympian Eagles — to land a berth in Saturday’s championship game at MiraCosta College in Oceanside.

Host Sweetwater, buoyed by a three-game sweep over eighth-seeded Montgomery in last Friday’s quarterfinals won the first set 29-17. But Olympian, its hopes raised following a 3-0 sweep against fifth-seeded Morse in last Friday’s quarterfinals, proceeded to win the next three sets — 25-20, 25-15, 25-14 — to score a 3-1 upset victory and a trip to the CIF championship game.

“Ultimately, it came down to shifting the mindset or our team,” Olympian coach Mark Andre Daza said, “We had a roller-coaster season and needed to change our mindset. Our strategy has been slowing down the game.”

Daza credited senior outside hitter Michael Talavera and senior middle blocker Rayvon Patterson as key players during the team’s postseason run.

The Devils were hurting in that department in Wednesdays matchup after losing one of their key players very early on.

“We lost one of our best players during the game,” SuHi head coach Erik Hernandez said. “He was carrying the team at the moment. We had to figure out who to replace him. Olympian kept their heads in the game. They capitalized on the momentum through the second game and they kept it going. Our top two guys couldn’t get it going.”

Sweetwater ended its Metro-South Bay League championship season with a final 27-6 overall record. Junior Sergio Salazar led the hosts with 12 kills while sophomore Grayson Sanchez logged 33 digs and freshman Chris James Merced added 29 assists.

Olympian, which tied with San Ysidro for runner-up honors behind the Red Devils in the league standings, carries a 22-14 record into the championship game.

Sweetwater defeated Olympian, 3-0, in league play on April 21 but dropped a 3-1 decision to the Eagles on May 13.

The Devils won the league title with a 7-1 record. Olympian and San Ysidro both finished with 5-3 league records.

Metro-South Bay League Standings
Sweetwater 7-1
Olympian 5-3
San Ysidro 5-3
Montgomery 2-6
Southwest 1-7

Photos by Jon Bigornia