State berths on the line as MCC-GSL playoffs heat up this week

Postseason for prep volleyball and soccer is upon us this week as MCC teams gear up to battle squads from the Greater Spokane League for state berths.

Both 3A playoffs have two berths up for grabs, while the 4A tourneys have three.

In 3A girls soccer, Kennewick (2-13, 2-12 MCC) hosts Rogers (0-13, 0-9 GSL) in a play-in game for the second straight year at 5 p.m. Tuesday. The winner plays GSL No. 2 North Central (4-8, 3-6) in another loser-out game at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Joe Albi Stadium in Spokane, with the winner advancing to a Saturday game in the first round of double-elimination play at undefeated Kamiakin (15-0, 14-0 MCC). On the other side of the bracket, Southridge (4-11, 4-10 MCC) hosts Shadle Park (4-9-1, 2-7) in a loser-out game at 6 p.m. Wednesday and the winner plays at Mt. Spokane (6-7-1, 4-5) on Saturday in double-elimination action.

In the first double-elimination round of the 4A tournament on Wednesday, MCC No. 1 seed Chiawana (11-4, 10-4) hosts University (7-6, 5-4 GSL) at 6 p.m.; Hanford (9-7, 8-6 MCC) plays Mead (9-3-1, 6-3 GSL) at Joe Albi at 6 p.m.; Richland (12-4, 10-4 MCC) hosts Lewis and Clark (9-3-2, 6-3 GSL) at 5 p.m.; and Walla Walla (9-8, 6-8 MCC) — beat Pasco 5-1 on Monday — plays at unbeaten Central Valley (12-0, 9-0 GSL) at 5 p.m. Win or lose, all teams that play Wednesday will play again Saturday.

In 4A volleyball, Hanford (6-8) hosts Pasco (1-14, 0-14 MCC) at 6 p.m. Wednesday, with the winner getting the daunting task of traveling to play unbeaten Mead (10-0, 8-0 GSL, ranked No. 2 in the state poll) at 6 p.m. Thursday in the first round of double-elimination play. Other GSL seeds weren’t determined until late Monday, but it was known that Richland (14-0) will host the winner of the GSL No. 4/5 play-in, Chiawana (9-4) will travel to the No. 2 team, and Walla Walla (11-4, 10-4 MCC) will host the No. 3 team. All of those first-round games are scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday, and the second round matches are at 1 p.m. Saturday.

The 3A volleyball bi-district gets started with Kamiakin (3-11) hosting North Central (0-13, 0-8 GSL) in a play-in game at 6 p.m. Wednesday. The winner plays Shadle Park (6-7, 3-5 GSL) at 1 p.m. Saturday at Kennewick, with the winner advancing to face the Lions (9-4) in the first round of double-elimination play at 3 p.m. Southridge (4-10) takes on Rogers (2-9, 1-7 GSL) at 1 p.m. Saturday at Mt. Spokane in a loser-out game, with the winner facing the Wildcats (10-3, 6-2 GSL) at 3 p.m.

This story was originally published October 23, 2017 at 9:15 PM with the headline "State berths on the line as MCC-GSL playoffs heat up this week."