It was hard to keep an eye on every team there, but these are my takes on the top teams in the area that I did get a chance to see.

Miramonte: The Matadors looked fantastic in winning the tournament, and it’s hard to believe the DFAL could be so good that this is the current third-place team. Juliana Stivanicevic was simply amazing, smashing everything in site. They Mary Diamantidis who can set, pass and hit as well as two solid hitters in Kari Johnson and Kelsea Ross. Freshman setter Sarah Vacarro appears to have a lot of potential.

Bishop O’Dowd: Ran into a buzzsaw when it faced Miramonte in the quarterfinals, but the Dragons still looked very good. Caroline Mercado and Lindsey Parrot are very athletic and hit the ball quite well, and they have a lot of others girls who can hit, pass and set. The Dragons will be heard from.

Castro Valley: Castro Valley was quite scrappy and nearly upended Granada to move into the semi-finals. They beat Las Lomas, doing so behind very solid play from Stacie Redmond. This team is a sleeper.

San Ramon Valley: This team can block and that is why the Wolves reached the finals. You have to mix up where you are setting the ball against this team because Leah Foltz, Annie Begin, Allison Cole and Brianna Vandersloot will continue to block you if you keep going to the same place. All of the aforementioned can hit, and Amy Mulligan is probably their biggest hitter. Sammi Buono is a terrific setter. Begin is a fantastic story. She is playing with a rotator cuff injury in her right shoulder. Instead of missing her senior year, she is going to have surgery after and is doing most of her hitting and all of her serving with her lefthand, which is not her natural hand. She will tough it out and hit with the right as well, which means you never know which side she is coming from.

Granada: The team suffered a blow when terrific setter Katie Uglow went down, but this team is just so balanced. Devin Shaver filled in and did a great job, and the whole cast is very scrappy and hungry to win. Uglow should be back soon and Katie Osborne, Kelly Shaver and Devin Shaver still make this team very dangerous as they were very close to knocking off Miramonte in the semi-finals.

Las Lomas: The Knights are probably disappointed by losing to Castro Valley in the quarterfinals, but they ran into a team playing great. Las Lomas still has to be considered the team to beat and perhaps the best in Division II. Charlotte Brown was a force, Molly Peterson is a great setter and Danielle Stewart and Morgan Borch looked good outside.

Others: I didn’t get a chance to see to much of Carondelet, Berean Christian, Foothill or Cal. Carondelet and Berean reached the quarterfinals, beating Cal and Foothill respectively.

Redwood Empire: A few teams from up north were there, and these are teams you might see in the playoffs. Sonoma Valley is down from last year, Redwood looked athletic but very inconsistent and Analy is a young, talented team that could pose problems for some.

- Matt Smith