The Siuslaw girls volleyball team will be home for two important Far West League matches this coming week, Tuesday against North Bend and Thursday against South Umpqua.

Both matches are scheduled for 6 p.m., or soon thereafter, depending on the length of the junior varsity matches that begin at 5 p.m.

The Vikings now can put in the rearview mirror the season's longest week, one that took them to Brookings, Winston and Grants Pass, some 20 hours of bus time in five days.

Siuslaw opened with a sweep at Brookings-Harbor on Tuesday, but the injury-depleted Vikings then dropped a key league match at Douglas before losing a nonleague doubleheader in Grants Pass to Hidden Valley and Cottage Grove on Saturday.

Hidden Valley swept Siuslaw 25-21, 25-15, 25-15. Cottage Grove won 25-13, 25-19, 19-25, 25-19.

Makenzie York had 10 kills and three blocks, Taylor Dotson six kills and Maci Wells, filling in at libero, had three aces, 10 digs and 100 percent serving in the match against Cottage Grove.

The recent three-match losing skid has dropped Siuslaw to 5-5 overall and 2-2 in league, forging a four-way tie for second place among Siuslaw, Douglas, North Bend and South Umpqua.

Marshfield leads the league at 4-0, while Brookings-Harbor is 0-4.

Siuslaw completes first-round play Tuesday against the Bulldogs, then begins second-half play Thursday against the visiting Lancers.

Champions of the seven 4A leagues and the top-ranked No. 2 team automatically qualify as one of the 16 teams in the first round of the state playoffs.

The eight winners of the play-in matches also will qualify.

Siuslaw will need to finish no lower than third place to qualify for a play-in game.

The Vikings have four league matches after this week, Oct. 6 at Marshfield, Oct. 8 vs. Brookings-Harbor, Oct. 13 vs. Douglas and Oct. 15 at North Bend.

League tiebreakers, if needed, will be determined Oct. 19-20, with play-in matches Oct. 21-24. The first round of the state playoffs is Oct. 31.