High school seniors Matt Cerda of Oceanside and Ryan O'Sullivan of Valhalla have been selected first-team all-state by CalHiSports.com.

Cerda, an infielder who batted .519 with 16 home runs and 46 RBI, signed with the Chicago Cubs after being chosen in the fourth round of the pro baseball draft. He turned down a scholarship offer from the University of San Diego. In his first eight games with the Arizona Rookie League Cubs, Cerda batted .375.

O'Sullivan, a pitcher-shortstop, was selected in the 10th round by San Francisco but hasn't signed a contract. O'Sullivan has a scholarship offer from San Diego State University.

Seniors Cole Sulser of Ramona, Clark Murphy of Fallbrook, Kevin Vance of Torrey Pines, Brian Humphries of Granite Hills and Brandon Meredith of Montgomery received second-team honors.

Other awards:

First-team all-underclassmen – junior Levi Stevens of Grossmont and juniors Parker Hipp and Matt Moynihan of Cathedral Catholic.

Second-team all-underclassmen – junior Steven Packard of Mission Hills, sophomore Brett Thomas of Poway and junior Casey Husband of Cathedral Catholic.

All-state medium schools – Moynihan, senior Chris Wilson of Cathedral Catholic and senior David Popkins of St. Augustine.

Epic Volleyball

Despite trailing late in the decisive game, it figured that the Epic Volleyball Club boys-18 team would rally to win in the semifinals of this year's Junior Olympics. After all, the squad of top San Diego-area players did so in two matches earlier in the tournament.

Epic overcame a familiar nemesis in the semifinals, topping the Chicago Ultimate for its first victory in four meetings over three years. Leading the way were recent high school graduates Cole Mortland (Mt. Carmel), Nick Vogel (Valhalla) and Beau Vandeweghe (La Costa Canyon). Each earned All-America honors as the Epic boys-18 squad won its first medal in the Junior Olympics.

After facing a 13-11 deficit in the third semifinal game, Epic prevailed 22-25, 25-23, 16-14 in the four-day tournament in Sandy, Utah.

“You get in some of these (tight) matches, and you just think to yourself, 'I could be beat here, but I don't want to end my senior year this way,'” Epic boys-18 coach Darrell Dilmore said. “These kids kept fighting to pull it out. They wanted to go out on their own terms, and that's what they did.”

Epic, which is based in Poway, ended up with a silver medal after losing in the final to Balboa Quiksilver of Orange County 25-14, 25-15.

In the boys-16 division, Epic earned another silver medal. Receiving All-America honors for Epic were Connor Mortland (Mt. Carmel), Tanner Clayton (Rancho Bernardo) and Danny Woodley (Poway).

Polo Down Under

Dominique Sardo, who will begin her senior year at The Bishop's School in the fall, helped the U.S. Junior National women's water polo team win an international title in Australia. Sardo, who scored three goals in the final, is being recruited by Stanford, USC, Cal and UCLA.

The next step

Francis Parker's Hannah Benjamin will continue her volleyball career at Stanford.

Benjamin, who will enter her senior year of high school in the fall, is a 5-foot-10 outside hitter for the Lancers but is expected to move into a defensive role for the Cardinal.

Benjamin will join another Parker alum, Cassidy Lichtman, the Union-Tribune All-Academic Student-Athlete of the Year in 2007 and already a standout at Stanford.

Benjamin was recruited by schools such as USC, Washington, Texas and Harvard. She carries a 4.4 grade point average and plays libero (defensive specialist) for the Encinitas Wave 18s club team.

Other local athletes continuing their careers in college:

BOYS SOCCER: Christian's Joe Wurzel, NAIA San Diego Christian College.

FOOTBALL: Cathedral Catholic's Doug Scott, Division II Western Michigan.

BASEBALL: Coronado's Tucker Johnson, NAIA Chapman.

WATER POLO: Rancho Bernardo's Cameron Lewis, Division III Whittier.

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