The CIF-SS postseason has arrived for a pair of high school fall sports, with the local girls volleyball and flag football playoff brackets opening play on Tuesday.
Before kicking off the postseason, those teams and more filled into the Ranchero Room at Harry’s Plaza Cafe on Monday to provide updates at the weekly Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table Press Luncheon.
The SBART Press Luncheon is sponsored by Fidelity National Title Group, Investec Real Estate, Knight Real Estate Group and Carp Physio.
Girls Volleyball, Flag Football Playoffs Begin
Five local girls volleyball teams and three flag football squads will begin their quests for CIF-SS titles this week after successful regular seasons.
In girls volleyball, Santa Barbara High and Dos Pueblos will look to carry over the momentum from their league championship campaigns. Bishop Diego, Laguna Blanca and Carpinteria High will all compete in the girls volleyball playoffs as well.
On the flag football field, Dos Pueblos is fresh off its fourth straight Channel League title, San Marcos earned an automatic bid out of the Channel League and Santa Barbara High will enter the program’s first-ever CIF-SS postseason after a strong year in the Pacific View League.
“We’re excited about [the game], and it’s cool that we have this opportunity with the way the league has been set up. It gives that competitive equity. We made playoffs, San Marcos is going, DP’s going, so a lot of excitement around the local teams here,” Santa Barbara High flag football head coach Travis Manach said.
Here is the full slate of CIF-SS playoff games set for this week:
Tuesday, Oct. 20
- Girls Flag Football
- Villa Park @ Santa Barbara High, 5 p.m. (D2 Round 1)
- San Marcos @ Redondo Union, 5 p.m. (D1 Round 1)
- Girls Volleyball
- Ontario Christian @ Santa Barbara High, 5 p.m. (D4 Round 1)
- Torrance @ Dos Pueblos, 6 p.m. (D6 Round 1)
- Bishop Diego @ Temescal Canyon, 6 p.m. (D6 Round 1)
Wednesday, Oct. 21
- Flag Football
- Dos Pueblos @ Newport Harbor, 5 p.m. (Open Division Pool Play)
- Girls Volleyball
- Brea Olinda @ Laguna Blanca, 6 p.m. (D7 Round 1)
- Carpinteria High @ Santa Rosa Academy, 6 p.m. (D9 Round 1)
Thursday, Oct. 22
- Girls Volleyball Round 2 (TBD)
Saturday, Oct. 24
- Flag Football
- Dos Pueblos @ Westlake, 5 p.m. (Open Division Pool Play)
- Round 2, TBD
Update From Cate
Cate School made its first appearance at an SBART luncheon this school year, represented by the school’s 8-man football and boys water polo teams.
The Rams’ football team is coming off a 2025 season in which it finished as the CIF-SS Div. 2 Runner-Up, and now holds a 2-4 record this season after graduating several key seniors from last year’s squad.
“It’s been a lot of ups and downs for us. We’re a couple plays away from being 4-2, but unfortunately we’re 2-4. That’s the way the cookie crumbles,” Cate football assistant coach Donny said.
While the team currently sits at 2-4, the season is far from over and last year’s season is a reason to believe so. Cate went 2-7 in the regular season, was awarded an at-large bid into the postseason and caught fire en route to a championship game appearance.
“As we saw last year, anything can happen when we get to the end of the season… We’re hoping to do the same this year,” Donny said.
The Rams will look to find some momentum beginning on the road next week against Chadwick.
In the pool, Cate has enjoyed a 16-3 regular season and boasts a dominant 9-0 Tri-Valley League record.
The Rams have three games on the slate this week to round out the regular season before learning their CIF-SS playoff draw on Friday. They are expected to slot into Division 2 or Division 3, according to head coach Jesse Morrison.
Junior Fletcher Prince and freshman Tenny Brine have showcased the present and the future of the program, leading the way on both ends of the pool for Cate.
[Prince and Brine] are two of our hardest workers in the program,” Morrison said. “It’s really kind of unmatched with anybody else we have on our team and against a lot of the opponents we’ve seen this year. They’re mentally, physically tough as nails. We’re excited to see what they do in the postseason.”
Student-Athletes in Attendance
Dos Pueblos Girls Volleyball: Moana Martinez, Char Welch
Dos Pueblos Football: Liam Husak, Felipe Simonetti
Dos Pueblos Cross Country: Viola Penn, Sebastian Blackwell, James Dominguez
Cate Football: Will Murray, Sam Lambiotte, Andrew Jayich
Cate Boys Water Polo: Fletcher Prince, Tennyson Brine
Santa Barbara High Flag Football: Oaklee Johnston, Abby Ayala
Santa Barbara High Football: Everett Rabb-Preston, Santiago Garcia, Gabe Hoyos
Carpinteria High Girls Golf: Sarah Hayman, Athziry Rojas
Carpinteria High Cross Country: Kenzi Gardner, Belen MacMurray
Carpinteria High Football: Brayden Real, Grant Feramisco
