Pacific View League race too close to call

from the Ventura County Star:

By Loren Ledin


The Pacific View League may or may not be an impact player in the upcoming CIF-Southern Section Division I playoffs. But it knows how to stage a great league race.

With the emergence of Rio Mesa as a bona fide league power, the PVL’s Big Three of Oxnard, Camarillo and Rio Mesa are engaged in a thriller to the wire.

How close is it? By the time tonight’s matches end, there could be a three-way tie atop the final standings.

Rio Mesa holds the inside track at 8-1 in league and 15-6 overall. Right behind are Camarillo (7-2, 16-5) and Oxnard (7-2, 11-11). Camarillo would forge a veritable dead heat if it can topple Rio Mesa on its home floor tonight.

“I know this: If we could somehow win the league championship or earn a co-championship, I would value this one as much or more than any of the other league titles we’ve won,” said Camarillo coach Rob Vandermay. “The reason being is that the caliber of competition throughout the league is as good as its ever been.

“It’s just not the top three teams. We’ve been pushed by Pacifica and Channel Islands and that has helped us to become a better team.”

Rio Mesa’s bid to wrap up a solo crown was put on hold April 22 when it lost a back-and-forth match in five games to host Oxnard. Even the losing coach was enthralled.

“It was insane,” said Rio Mesa’s Jeff Hollowell.

Then, Camarillo threw the race into a dither last Thursday with a three-game sweep over Oxnard, 25-18, 25-21, 27-25. Oxnard had won the first meeting between the longtime rivals, also by a sweep.

Vandermay, for one, thinks all the tight competition has allowed his team to make steady improvement.

“The way we were pushed and challenged by everybody pretty much exposed our weaknesses,” Vandermay said. “We’ve been able to work and improve and get better as the season has progressed.”

If Camarillo does win tonight, the league has steps to resolve the three-way deadlock for purposes of seeding in the CIF-SS playoffs.

The first tiebreaker, head-to-head competition, would still result in a wash. The second tiebreak, games won, swings the advantage toward Rio Mesa.

The Spartans could lose to Camarillo in five games tonight, and still claim the top seed in the PVL. If Camarillo can defeat Rio Mesa in three or four games, the Scorpions would earn the top seeding for postseason.