There's a chance that the Siuslaw Vikings volleyball team's 0-5 record in five-set matches will come back to haunt them.

There's also a chance it may help.

The Lady Vikings should know late Thursday night, sometime after their Sky-Em League showdown at Cottage Grove.

A Siuslaw win Thursday will throw the league into a three-way tie for first place with Siuslaw, Cottage Grove and the winner of the Marshfield-Junction City match.

Siuslaw needs to win in four sets or less to avoid any tie breaking formula from kicking in.

The Lady Vikings already own the tiebreaker edge with Junction City and Marshfield, 5 sets to 4. Both schools beat Siuslaw in five sets, but lost in four. Advantage Siuslaw.

Cottage Grove enters Thursday's match with a first-round win over the Lady Vikings, 3-2.

Should Siuslaw win in four sets, the Lady Vikings would share first place with the Lady Lions and hold a 5-4 edge in sets won between the schools in league play.

Edge Siuslaw.

If Siuslaw wins in five, the tie-breaker likely will be final OSAA rankings, which probably favor Cottage Grove. There still is the winner of the Junction City-Marshfield game to factor in.

League standings will freeze at 10 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 21, and playoff pairings will be determined.

There will be no on-the-court tiebreakers, according to Siuslaw athletic director Chris Johnson.

The tiebreakers, in Johnson's words:

1. league record. If tie still exists:
2. head to head. If tie still exists:
3. top to bottom comparison of wins and losses of league teams. If tie still exists:
4. head to head sets won. If tie still exists:
5. OSAA power ranking

Bottom line: The Lady Vikings need to win in four to win the league title and avoid the play-in round. Otherwise, a loss could land them as low as fourth place.

We should have it all sorted out soon.

NOTES

Siuslaw is 2-3 in sets in league vs. Cottage Grove, 5-4 against Junction City and Marshfield. ...
Cottage Grove is 3-2 vs. Siusaw, 4-3 vs. Junction City and Marshfield. ...
Junction City is 3-2 vs. Marshfield, 4-5 vs. Siuslaw, 3-4 vs. Cottage Grove. ...
Marshfield is 2-3 vs. Junction City, 4-5 vs. Siuslaw, 3-4 vs. Cottage Grove. ...

4A Volleyball Playoff Qualifications

16-team OSAA bracket
Automatic Qualifiers – Eight teams, including the #1 team from the Cowapa, Tri-Valley, Oregon West, Sky-Em, Skyline and Greater Oregon leagues, along with the next two highest ranked teams between the #2's from the aforementioned leagues, will automatically qualify for the first round of the OSAA 16-team bracket (Group A) based on regular season and/or district tournament play on or before Thursday, October 21. Each league determines how they will select their allotted playoff spots.

A1 - TBD
A2 - TBD
A3 - TBD
A4 - TBD
A5 - TBD
A6 - TBD
A7 - TBD
A8 - TBD

Rankings Freeze Date – The rankings will freeze at 10pm on Thursday, October 21.

Play-In Model – Sixteen teams will qualify as Play-In teams based on the following criteria.

The four remaining #2 teams from the Cowapa, Tri-Valley, Oregon West, Sky-Em, Far West, Skyline and Greater Oregon, along with the #3 teams from the two leagues that have two representatives in Group A (guaranteeing all leagues host a play-in game) plus the two highest remaining ranked #3 teams will be the eight home teams in the play-in round (Group B).

Group B will be placed in matchups based on their ranking (B1, B2, B3, etc.) The two remaining #3 teams, along with the next six highest ranked non-automatic qualifiers, will travel in the play-in round (Group C).

Group C will be placed into the matchups based on their ranking (C1, C2, C3, etc.). The matchups will take place on or before Tuesday, October 26, and will be as followed:

C8 @ B1, C7 @ B2, C6 @ B3, C5 @ B4, C4 @ B5, C3 @ B6, C2 @ B7, C1 @ B8.

OSAA's same league matchup policy will be utilized in determining opponents for play-in contests. Winners advance to the OSAA 16-team bracket.

Q: If the Cowapa League #2 qualifies into Group A, who fills their spot in Group B?

A: The Cowapa #3 would then be moved to Group B to ensure that each league hosts a play-in match.

C8 @ B1 - TBD @ TBD
C7 @ B2 - TBD @ TBD
C6 @ B3 - TBD @ TBD
C5 @ B4 - TBD @ TBD
C4 @ B5 - TBD @ TBD
C3 @ B6 - TBD @ TBD
C2 @ B7 - TBD @ TBD
C1 @ B8 - TBD @ TBD

Rankings – Once the 16 qualifying teams are determined, they will be placed on the OSAA bracket according to OSAA Executive Board Policy "State Championships – Rankings".