The Siuslaw Vikings are ready to get a heaping helping of Cowapa League volleyball as they prepare for the Oregon School Athletics Association Class 4A playoffs.

Saturday, the Vikings host the Cowapa League's third-place team, the Tillamook Cheesemakers, at 1 p.m. at Glenn Butler Court.

"If we play our game and don't worry about who's across the net, we'll be fine," Siuslaw coach Jon Hornung said Tuesday.

Tillamook, seeded No. 9 in the OSAA playoffs, finished the regular season ranked No. 5. Cowapa League champion Valley Catholic is seeded No. 1 and ranked No. 1 and Cowapa runnerup Banks is seeded No. 3 and ranked No. 3.

Siuslaw, as the No. 8 seed, likely would face Valley Catholic should the Vikings get by the Cheesemakers on Saturday.

Siuslaw and co-Far West League champion Douglas are the only league teams remaining in the playoffs. North Bend and South Umpqua both lost play-in games.

Douglas beat Sweet Home on Tuesday in a play-in game, 3-0 (25-21, 25-16, 29-27). Douglas is seeded No. 12 and ranked No. 11. The Trojans may be headed to No. 5 Baker for a first-round match.

"I don't think our league is real strong," Douglas coach Carl Bone said. "We haven't played enough teams out of our area to really know."

The Cowapa League obviously is a real strong league, with teams ranked No. 1, No. 3, No. 5, No. 13 (Scappoose) and No. 16 (Seaside).

Scappoose swept La Grande, 3-0, and Seaside beat Estacada, 3-1, as road teams in play-in games.

"I think we'll do well (in the state playoffs)," Bone said. "I think Siuslaw will do really well with their height."

Hornung was pleased with the Vikings' most-recent performance against Douglas, which gives him confidence for the playoffs.

"It's come to the point that we can sit back and watch and see," he said. "They're playing the defense we taught them to play, and they're blocking and, oh yeah, they're doing it."

Douglas came to play, and the Vikings worked hard to take the 3-1 win.

"There were times, I'll be standing there, Douglas would get a dig, and it's like, 'Nice dig. Dang it!" Horning said. "You had to give them credit. They get so much stuff up and we're getting so much stuff up.

"We played better, together, this time. We played well as a group."

NOTES

Siuslaw junior libero Maci Wells has been named Coast Radio's athlete of the week. ... Honorable mention went to Vikings senior Jack Pickell, who won the annual The Run for The Brownies cross-country race. ...

Siuslaw beat Reedsport 3-0 in a nonleague match Tuesday (Oct. 25). ... Reedsport was 9-1 to win the Sunset Conference and is ranked No. 8 in Class 2A. ...

Philomath is the only common opponent for Siuslaw and Tillamook. ... Philomath beat Siuslaw 3-1 (25-22, 22-25, 25-16, 25-23) on Sept. 1. ... Tillamook beat Philomath 3-0 (25-13, 26-24, 25-15) on Sept. 8. ...

Doors open at noon for Saturday's match. Admission is $6 for adults and $4 for students, ages 5-18. ...

Coast Radio will broadcast the match on FM 104.1 and AM 1250. ... Pregame show 12:30 p.m., with Bob Sneddon and former Vikings all-star McKenzie (Mumpower) Perry. ...

Tillamook was ranked No. 1 in midseason, but then lost to Valley Catholic three times, twice in league and once in a tournament. ...

The Cheesemakers swept Stayton in play-in game Saturday, 3-0, winning 25-14, 25-21, 25-16. ...

The state quarterfinals, semifinals and finals will be Nov. 4 and 5 at Forest Grove High School. ...