THE PREPS : Southern Section Playoffs : Crowded Field Results in a Wild Schedule

How do you cram 24 teams into a 16-team playoff bracket?

Wild cards, wild cards, wild cards.

The Southern Section announced its 1989 boys’ volleyball playoff pairings Monday, with the most conspicuous feature in the 4-A and 3-A divisions being the many wild-card round matches Wednesday.

There will be eight wild-card matches in each division with teams playing to determine who makes it to the first round. Only league champions were given free tickets into the first round.

In the 4-A, Mira Costa (18-0) was seeded first, Laguna Beach (17-1) second, Corona del Mar (12-2) third and Huntington Beach (14-1) fourth.

Edison (14-2), the No. 2 team from the Sunset League, plays Culver City (13-7) Wednesday at Edison. University (11-3), the No. 2 team from the Sea View League, plays at home against Torrance (9-5) in 4-A wild-card games.

Harvard (15-0) was seeded first in the 3-A, Brentwood (10-6) second, Bishop Montgomery (13-1) third and La Quinta (15-3) fourth.

Mater Dei (14-3), the No. 2 team from the Angelus League, plays Lakewood (13-4) Wednesday at Mater Dei. Esperanza (12-4), the Empire League’s No. 2 team, is home against Pacifica (11-9).