Why expand to 6? Only the best should make Open. Otherwise, there are other divisions where the remaining teams should be slated.
I am not going to die on that hill but it seems to me that NCS usually has 5-6 “high quality” girls water polo teams. It would be much easier to cut the pie this way. One might argue that SRV deserved to be in the Open division last year, for example.
4 or 8, otherwise you have byes which is not ideal.
or I guess you could go with 2 pools of 3? I think Southern did that last year?
good morning!
how would you all reorder the top 8 after this last weekend?
For those interested in discussing teams outside the top 8, Merced is a very experienced, skilled and well-coached team. #21 didn’t play vs. Arroyo earlier this season. If she was available, that game is a toss up imo.
I do not see how Arroyo Grande would lose to Merced. BTW, I am not sure that Merced is very experienced, outside of their two best players who are indeed seniors.
“Tastes Great!”
“Less Filling!”
“Tastes Great!”
“Less Filiing!”…
Whatever. To call a team very experienced when two of the top five scorers are freshmen is 'less filling" 
Most of Merced’s players have played club together for several years running. Right or wrong, that’s my definition of very experienced. And that makes a difference when playing teams outside of the top 8. Besides their two seniors (#16 and #21) my novice eyes saw five other really solid/skilled players.
#21 scored 13 goals her last two games of this past weekend for them. She was a problem out there.
Ok - maybe they don’t beat Arroyo… but it’s not a 4-10 game if #21 played that game.
Regardless of one’s interpretation of the word “experienced”, Merced’s team is strong and worked incredibly well together. They play for SKIP in the off season. They also killed Buchanan who someone previously ranked 6th for the season. Definitely a team to watch IMO.
@MomFan what impressed me was Merced’s discipline when they have a lead. They work the shot clock and do not make many unforced errors.
I’m very interested to see what happens against Davis this week.
MomFan,
I can assure you that nobody has ranked Buchanan girls as #6 among Norcal and Central Cal teams, not even close.
oh wow. I didn’t realize they are playing each other this week! here’s the boxscore of their last matchup (norcal regionals in 2024). most of the same players/key contributors from that game from each team will be facing off again.
Since Davis and Merced scrimmaged two (?) weeks ago, probably the outcome should be similar?
Anyway, if Davis beat Merced 11:5 two years ago and Merced lost the second best player from that 2024 team and Davis lost nobody and got at least two-three (?) excellent sophomores since then, I would expect Davis to win again, no?
Sorry, my bad. It was a prediction at the Central Valley Showdown. Someone had Buchanan 6th and Merced 10th.
Yup. Davis has almost double the depth of Merced. Everyone in the section knows it’s gonna be another runaway section title for the Blue Devils.
You might be correct but anything could happen in sports in one single game. In 2015, Davis beat St. Francis ( Sacramento) then coached by Heather Moody by a big margin during the regular season but then lost in a nail bitter in the section finals. That Davis team was very young.
In 2023, Davis beat GB by a good margin during the regular season but then almost lost in the section finals. That Davis team had three freshmen starters who are now seniors.
What probably makes this year different is that this Davis is a seniors dominated team so the expectation is that they would take care of business, but again, anything could happen in one single game. Miracles on ice happen, so to speak.
I would still argue that having 8-9 kids ( including freshmen) play club is not a definition of a very experienced team. If we talk about top 20 teams in Nor Cal, all of them have it and more. Definitely, Rio Americano and St. Mary’s have many kids playing club, and those teams are “more experienced” and probably “ more upperclassmen dominated “ than Merced.
Bottom line. Merced is a very good team with very talented kids and I wish the SJS section would have many more teams like them. The section really really needs it. And speaking of Merced, it looks like their sophomore lefty is not playing this season. If this is the case, it is a shame. The girl looked talented. Her brothers are dominating on the boys side.
Davis’ starting lineup is the same as it has been for the past three years. They graduated no starters, and the two junior starters are very good. While anything can happen, Davis is the clear favorite to repeat. They lost to Acalanes in OT on Friday on a questionable call at the end.
Sure. But it is also true that the 7th place has been the second lowest finish for Davis at the Acalanes Invite since Covid (they finished 8th in 2024, but, for example, they finished 2nd in 2021 and 3rd in 2022). In short, they are the clear favorites to win their section but, in theory, anything can happen.
P.S. Why it was a questionable call?