The Siuslaw Vikings volleyball team will travel to Banks to open the Oregon School Activities Association Class 4A championships.

The play-in game will be 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, according to Siuslaw athletic director Chris Johnson.

The Lady Vikings dropped a highly contested five-set match at Cottage Grove on Thursday, 21-25, 25-15, 25-18, 12-25, 15-13, and advance as the Sky-Em League's No. 4 team.

"We have a tough road ahead but I have confidence in these girls and their ability to rise," Siuslaw coach Kari Blake said. "They've played a lot of really hard ball over the last week with the Marshfield Tournament, Junction City and Cottage Grove.

"We are going to give them a little rest (Friday) and get them back in the gym to get them prepared for playoffs."

Siuslaw is No. 8 in the final OSAA 4A computer rankings, but essentially No. 17 in the playoffs.

The top eight teams have byes into the 16-team championship bracket, while the next eight by formula are at home.

Siuslaw finished the regular season 13-8 overall and 6-4 in league, tied for third with Junction City. Cottage Grove was league champion at 8-2 and Marshfield runner-up at 7-3.

Banks finished 5-13 overall and a third-place 4-4 in the Cowapa League. Banks' No. 3 league seeding trumped Siuslaw's No. 4 league seeding.

Should the Lady Vikings win, it appears they will be at No. 10 Tillamook, the Cowapa League runnerup and an automatic qualifier.

Marshfield and Junction City will be home for play-in games, hosting Gladstone and Phoenix, respectively. Marist, fifth place in league, has a play-in match at Molalla.

Marshfield was No. 12 in the final computer rankings, Junction City No. 9, both behind the Lady Vikings.

"It was a hard fought battle and I was very proud of my girls for fighting to the finish," Blake said following Thursday's tough loss at Cottage Grove. "They did an amazing job of keeping their heads high and playing their hearts out."

All four losses in league were five-set matches. The Lady Vikings were 0-6 in matches going five sets this season.

"Overall, I was really proud of the girls' effort and ability to stay relaxed in such a high stakes game," Blake said.

Mylee Blake had 16 kills and 22 digs, Hailee Outlaw had 15 kills and Desi Tupua 12 kills, 8 blocks and 31 digs. Rhianna Lane had 9 blocks.

Meika Shappell had 44 digs and Hayden Muller 38 digs, while Zoe Alberty had 65 sets to target and Brynlee Manues 44 sets to target.

"It was a great match on both sides and unfortunately the game didn't end in our favor," Blake said. "So close."

OSAA 4A PLAYOFFS

Play-in matches
C1 No. 8 Siuslaw (13-8) at B8 No. 25 Banks (5-13), 6:30 p.m. Tuesday
C2 No. 13 Philomath (9-9) at B7 No. 18 Hidden Valley (7-8), time to be announced, Tuesday
C3 No. 16 Stayton (8-12) at B6 No. 17 La Grande (6-6), 5:30 p.m. Tuesday
C4 No. 19 Marist (5-12) at B5 No. 15 Molalla (12-7), 6 p.m. Tuesday
C5 No. 20 Corbett (8-9) at B4 No. 14 Henley (12-6), 5 p.m. Tuesday
C6 No. 21 Gladstone (8-8) at B3 No. 12 Marshfield (11-6), 6 p.m. Tuesday
C7 No. 22 Phoenix (6-14) at B2 No. 9 Junction City (15-7), 4 p.m. Saturfday
C8 No. 24 McLoughlin (6-6) at B1 No. 7 Sweet Home (10-5), 2 p.m. Saturday

Automatic qualifiers
A1 No. 1 Sisters (19-3), Oregon West champion
A2 No. 2 Cascade (18-4), Oregon West runner-up
A3 No. 3 Valley Catholic (16-4), Cowapa champion
A4 No. 4 Mazama (18-1), Skyline champion
A5 No. 5 Baker (15-5), Greater Oregon champion
A6 No. 6 Cottage Grove (14-6), Sky-Em champion
A7 No. 10 Tillamook (14-6), Cowapa runner-up
A8 No. 11 North Marion (12-6), Tri-Valley champion

Notes
Group A (8 automatic qualifiers): 6 league champions and top 2 seeded runners-up.
Group B (8 home play-in teams): 4 remaining league runners-up, 2 third-place teams from leagues with 2 automatic qualifiers (Oregon West, Cowapa) plus the 2 highest remaining ranked No. 3 teams.
Group C (8 road play-in teams): 2 remaining No. 3 teams plus the next 6 highest ranked non-automatic qualifiers.

SIUSLAW SCHEDULE
Record: 13-8 overall, 6-4 Sky-Em League
Aug. 31 — Siuslaw 3, Phoenix 0, at Sutherlin (25-18, 25-11, 25-16)
Aug. 31 — at Sutherlin 3, Siuslaw 2 (15-25, 14-25, 25-19, 25-11, 15-8)
Sept. 8 — at Pleasant Hill 3, Siuslaw 2 (23-25, 22-25, 25-17, 25-22, 16-14)
Sept. 11 — at North Bend 3, Siuslaw 0 (25-16, 25-18, 25-22)
Sept. 18 — Siuslaw 2, Marist 0 (25-23, 25-22), at Sisters Tournament
Sept. 18 — Siuslaw 2, Vale 1 (25-16, 20-25, 15-9), at Sisters Tournament
Sept. 21 — Siuslaw 3, at Marist 0 (25-11, 25-17, 25-15)
Sept. 23 — Marshfield 3, at Siuslaw 2 (16-25, 25-19, 23-25, 26-24, 15-10)
Sept. 28 — Siuslaw 3, at Elmira 1 (20-25, 25-6, 25-18, 25-21)
Sept. 30 — at Siuslaw 3, Junction City 1 (25-23, 19-25, 25-21, 25-18)
Oct. 2 — Siuslaw 2, Klamath Union 0 (26-24, 25-9), at Junction City Tournament
Oct. 2 — Siuslaw 2, Junction City 1 (22-25, 25-5, 25-12), at Junction City Tournament
Oct. 5 — Cottage Grove 3, at Siuslaw 2 (23-25, 13-25 25-14, 25-21, 15-10)
Oct. 7 — at Siuslaw 3, Marist 0 (25-14, 25-13, 25-12)
Oct. 12 — Siuslaw 3, at Marshfield 1 (25-10, 25-12, 17-25, 25-17)
Oct. 13 — at Siuslaw 3, Elmira 0 (25-7, 25-15, 25-10)
Oct. 16 — Suslaw 2, Junction City 1 (25-18, 21-25, 17-15), at Marshfield Tournament
Oct. 16 — Siuslaw 2, Marshfield 0 (27-25, 25-21), at Marshfield Tournament
Oct. 16 — North Bend 2, Siuslaw 1 (25-20, 30-32, 15-11), at Marshfield Tournament
Oct. 19 — at Junction City 3, Siuslaw 2 (15-25, 16-25, 25-14, 25-23, 15-9)
Oct. 21 — at Cottage Grove 3, Siuslaw 2 (21-25, 25-15, 25-18, 12-25, 15-11)
Monday or Tuesday, Oct. 25 or 26 — OSAA play-in game, Siuslaw at Banks
Coach: Kari Blake
Assistant: Kya Blake
JV coach: Aylenne Vasquez

SIUSLAW VARSITY ROSTER
  1 Kristin Wall, setter, sophomore, 4-11
  2 Hayden Muller, libero, senior, 5-3, co-captain
  3 Rhianna Lane, middle blocker, freshman, 6-0
  4 Mylee Blake, outside hitter, freshman, 6-0
  5 Meika Shappell, defensive specialist, sophomore, 5-0
  6 Desiree Tupua, middle blocker, junior, 5-8
  7 Hailee Outlaw, outside hitter, junior, 5-8
  8 Ashley Hennessee, right side, sophomore, 5-7
  9 Brynlee Manues, setter, sophomore, 5-4
10 Zoe Alberty, setter, senior, 5-7, co-captain
11 Alizabeth Norton, middle blocker, senior, 5-9
12 Ava Center, opposite hitter, sophomore, 5-5
13 Cate Waggoner, defensive specialist, sophomore, 5-2

SIUSLAW JUNIOR VARSITY
  1 Macali Ladę, defensive specialist, freshman
  2 Abigail Riggs, outside hitter, freshman, 5-3
  3 Jolee Erickson, libero, freshman
  4 Sydney Barnett, middle blocker, sophomore
  5 Makayla Bender, defensive specialist, freshman, 5-4
  7 Mesa Earls, outside hitter, freshman, 5-5
  8 Kimberly Martinez-Munoz, outside hitter, freshman, 5-7
11 Megan Alberty, setter, freshman, 5-6
12 Bailey Myrick, middle blocker, junior, 5-7
14 Mya Smith, sophomore, 5-3
15 Malaia Snider, middle blocker, sophomore
16 Brianna Pavesich, middle blocker, sophomore, 5-10
17 Jordyn Breeden, defensive specialist, freshman