Perennial volleyball power Mira Costa is the No. 1 seed for the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions this weekend at Santa Barbara High and San Marcos.
The tournament features 16 teams playing best-of-five sets matches on Friday and Saturday. The action begins at 11 a.m., with Mira Costa taking on Valencia at Santa Barbara’s J.R. Richards Gym.
Matches will continue throughout the day and evening (12:45 p.m. 2:30, 4:15, 6 p.m. and 7:45) on Friday.
The semifinals are 10:45 a.m. on Saturday and the championship match is at 6:15 p.m., at Santa Barbara.
Mira Costa (8-4) finished runner-up at the Dave Mohs Tournament in Orange County a couple of weeks ago. The Mustangs, ranked fourth in the CIF-SS Division 1-2 combined poll, come into the TOC after losing their league opener against Palos Verdes.
San Clemente is the No. 2 seed. The Tritons (7-3) were CIF-SS Division 2 semifinalists last season.
Corona del Mar (4-1), ranked 14th in the Division 1-2 poll, and San Diego Section perennial power Canyon Crest Academy (8-4) are the third and fourth seeds.
The tournament also features Division 3-ranked Valencia (No. 7) and Upland (No. 8) and a strong Arroyo Grande team from the Central Section.
San Marcos, ranked sixth in Divison 3, and Santa Barbara are the local teams entered.
The rest of the field includes Ventura, Great Oak, Hart, Newport Harbor, Foothill Tech, Newbury Park and Westview of San Diego.
San Marcos opens against Westview at 4:15 p.m., while Santa Barbara takes on No. 2 San Clemente at the same time.
— Noozhawk Sports Editor Barry Punzal can be reached at bpunzal@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.